Number 30, Edward Elric
by sierra.steinbrecher
Summary: Ed needed a way to stay in shape. Hiruma needed a linebacker. But can Ed play American Football with two metal limbs? The Devil Bats are going to find out.
1. Ed in Our World

_ Back again, Alchemist? How many times does this make, I wonder?_

"Does it matter? I always get something when I do. You know what I want."

_ You know the rules. Equivalent exchange. What will the toll be this time?_

"Whatever you need. Al deserves better than giving himself up for my sake. Take anything."

_ Anything?_

* * *

Ed wanted to bang his head against the walls on either side of the street he walked down to get back to the small apartment he shared with a couple other high school students. Sure, the deal had sounded easy enough when Truth offered it. A day in a different world for Ed earned a day in Amestris for Al. Well, if this was what it took to give Al back what he'd lost, so be it. _Yeah, but I didn't expect this place to be so boring, _Ed thought with a huff. At least the language had been easy enough to learn, and thanks to the royalty he got from that one guy, Hiromu Arakawa, for letting him use the story as material for his manga, he had enough to keep up with food, rent, and his other expenses. That had actually been a fun meeting.

He'd been walking along a road not all that far from here, when someone yelled, "Look out!" He'd looked up and saw the bike charging toward him. He'd reached out with his automail arm and grabbed one of the bike handles, bringing the whole thing to a crashing stop. Unfortunately for him, his glove got torn and the person on the bike saw the metal glint underneath.

He'd crouched, ready to bolt if the need arose, but instead, the guy had asked, "Would you like to get some coffee? It's the least I can do after almost running you over."

Still wary, He'd let the other man steer him into a nearby coffee shop and ordered a latte for both of them. "Sorry about that," the man started. "There was this great sale on manga pens down the street and I lost control coming back down that hill." He'd gone on and on about his dream, to get published in a manga magazine. "But I can't seem to find the right story." He'd glanced down at Edward's hand and then back at the smooth, almost boyish face. "What's yours?"

Ed had covered the torn glove and muttered, "None of your business," and left the coffee shop, thinking that would be the end of it. Too bad the Manga artist wannabe was friends with one of his roommates.

After about the twenty-fifth time the guy had shown up at his front door and begged Ed to tell his story, he relented and told him about the episode with the fake priest in Liore. He tried not to reveal too much, but every time he left out details Hiromu would stare at him until he just gave in. What could you do against a face that looked like a kicked puppy? And even if he told anyone, who would believe him?

Then, about three weeks later, Hiromu swept Ed into a hug the minute he opened the door. "I finished it!"

Ed had backed out of the man's arms and up against the wall. "What?"

"Look!" He handed the former alchemist a brown folder and Ed slid out a row of manga pages. Then he stared. It was them! Down to the last detail. Okay, they might look a bit cartoony, but all the important stuff was there, like his braid and Al's helmet.

Hiromu cleared his throat and Ed looked up from the pages. Then manners hit him like a ton of bricks. "Come on in." The artists followed him into the living room and watched as Ed read the first chapter in what Hiromu hoped would be a series. It was thrilling for the artist, watching Ed's emotion change as the story hit different points, and he filed them away for future use on the blond' s character.

About ten minutes later, Ed laid the finished manuscript on the table. The other man leaned forward. "Well, how was it?"

Ed reached forward and tugged at one of the pages. "It'll need work. Some of the details are still missing. And why'd you have to make me so short?"

Hiromu laughed. "It makes your character more likable. Plus, it's the truth." Ed huffed. Hiromu chuckled. "I promise I'll make you taller by the end of it." Ed laughed at the memory. Hiromu had been his first friend here, although they saw less of each other now that he was busy with the work of actually creating the series from Edward's story.

Ed walked past a karate dojo and sighed. He'd tried that place just last week, and fighting their top student hadn't even made his break a sweat. And it was the same wherever he went! None of the martial arts places here were up to scratch. Even Winry had been a challenge compared to some of these places, never mind Teacher or Al. He shook his head. Why did everything remind him of Al, of Teacher, of everyone he'd left behind? He had to find something to occupy his mind before he went crazy from missing them, and something to keep him in shape too wouldn't be a bad idea. Without Al to spar with, he was starting to get flabby, and his speed and reflexes were getting worse too.

As he passed by one of the local high schools, loud cheering broke through his grey thoughts and he crossed the street to get a better look. Probably a sporting event of some kind. He saw a bunch of guys about 50 yards away from him. The ones with their backs to him were in white uniforms, with about eleven of them on the field. The visiting team-they had to be visiting team, he would have remembered those crazy helmets-was lined up facing them.

Then the shouting increased and a huge dust cloud got kicked up. He leaned against the fence, trying to get a better look at what was going on. White-uniformed players swarmed around in front of him, trying to stop someone coming up the field. Then the sun glinted off a helmet and gold eyes followed the tinted eye shield as it raced toward him up the field, leaving clumps of grass flying in his wake like the slipstream of a jet.

_ That person's fast! _Ed thought as he watched the boy with the 21 on his red shirt charge up the field. Cutting between players, he made his way up the field. "Hmm. Agile and fast," Ed commented and the kid raced further toward him. This could be the distraction he was looking for. But he didn't just need strength and agility training, he needed…

And then the huge guy who'd been standing in the line of red guys before completely overpowered one of the white clad kids in number 21's way. That settled it for Ed. This sport was what he needed to keep his skills sharp, and this team was the one he needed to join. Who knew, he might even have some fun along the way.

**I will try to make updates daily, but with a new job on the horizon and no backup chapters, it's a bit questionable. Rest assured, I have great plans for this. Please review!**


	2. Introduction to Deimon

Sena could almost see the flames rising around Mamori as she faced off against Hiruma. He had to try to stop this before they destroyed the field. "Guys, we really should-"

"Hey, you with the pointy ears!" And just like that, the tension snapped and both combatants glared at the blond kid who'd so rudely interrupted them. Sena proceeded to pray for his soul.

Hiruma strode up to the shorter teen and growled, "What, shrimp?"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT EVEN ARTIFICIAL TURF LOOKS LIKE A JUNGLE TO HIM?!" The yelling blew Hiruma back a few inches and deafened him and everyone else. The boy visibly calmed himself and asked, "I want to join your team."

"Really?!" And the boy was suddenly blocked from Sena's view by a huge object, namely Kurita. The runningback raced forward to help to boy recover from the crushing hug, but found him standing on his feet muttering something about strong arms. Or was it Armstrong?

The kid looked back up at the massive boy and replied, "Sure. How do I sign up?"

"Hold it, fatty!" Deimon's devilish quarterback pushed the bigger boy out of the way and glowered down at the shorter blond. "You're not even high school age! More like a gradeschooler!" Ed opened his mouth for another rant, but Hiruma cut him off. "Besides, you don't go to our school."

The other boy shrugged. "Does that matter?"

Hiruma raised his eyes to the heavens. Was this kid really that stupid? "Oy, manager!" Sena jumped at the command. "Explain things to the shorty."

They plugged their ears just in time. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT A UNIFORM WOULD BE LIKE A TENT FOR HIM?!"

After about fifteen minutes of explaining on Sena's part, about the league and how you had to be enrolled in a high school to get on the team, the boy, now known as Edward, shrugged and said, "So I just have to pass this so called exam and I'm in?"

"Yeah," finished Sena, "But I don't know if they'll let you. I mean, classes have already started and everything…" He tailed off as he heard maniacal laughter coming from a certain quarterback behind him.

* * *

With one wave of a certain black book, Edward was sitting behind a desk with the Deimon Entrance exam in front of him. And there, on the very first page, was his beloved science. Ed grinned. When the teachers looked that exam over later, reactions were varied. The history and Japanese teachers thought the boy to be either a slacker, or a dunderhead. They sections were almost completely blank. The science, math, English, and home economics teachers could not stop singing his praises. Such detailed answers, such fine calculations, such cooking! The good outweighed the bad by an inch, and so he was admitted. But the teachers who longed for his guiding influence in their class were disappointed.

"It's wrong to skip classes, Edward-san," scolded Mamori at lunchtime.

"Why should I go when I already know everything?" answered the blond and he relaxed on the roof. "Those sections on the test were a breeze!"

That was it for Mamori. She already dealt with one unruly blond; she wasn't about to put up with another one! "Those tests are for middle school kids, not first year students. Even if you aced the test, there is still more to learn."

"Oh yeah," asked Ed as he sat up. "Prove it." So Mamori spent the rest of the lunch break going around to the teachers of the classes Edward avoided and got copies of the first, second, and third year tests. She smacked them down in front of the blond and glowered at him, just daring him to take them. And Edward did. He aced those tests so thoroughly that, when the teachers graded his work at Mamori's request, they told Ed that he didn't have to attend their classes. Of course, the threatening text messages they received at the beginning of the day might have had something to do with that.

After much fussing on Mamori's part about the teacher's reactions, Hiruma stole the jersey from Ishimaru, kicking him off the team, and told Sena to help Ed suit up. Edward took one look at that sleeveless Jersey and backed up. "I'm not wearing that."

"Yes you are," droned the quarterback as he cleaned one of his many guns.

"No, I'm not." Hiruma looked up from his favorite intimidation tactic and saw Ed, standing with his arms crossed. Looks like he would have to get more personal with this.

"Why not? Got something to hide?" He grabbed a wrist and tried to pull it out of the cross so he could get the kid's gloves off. Key word, tried. The arm didn't budge.

Ed scowled up at him. "I'm not wearing anything with short sleeves."

Hiruma let out an enormous sigh and let go of the kid's arm. "Fine. Just wear something under it."

He uncrossed his arms and took off the school jacket and button-up shirt, revealing a thin under armor shirt. "Hey Sena-san," he asked, jerking the other boy out of his shocked state at the fact that Hiruma had conceded to someone. "How do all these pads work?"

A few minutes later, after Edward had been instructed in the fine art of football pad protection, he was out on the field in a light long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants, waiting for Sena to give him the signal. Hiruma claimed that he couldn't train until they knew what position he'd play, and they needed both his bench press and 40 yard dash speed to determine that.

Sena shouted, "Go, and started the stopwatch."

Ed took like a shot, pumping his arms and running far past the 40 yard line. Sena clicked the button and gasped when he saw the time. "4-4-4-4.4 seconds?! That's almost as fast as me!" Hiruma's eyes lit up and he hurried the whole team into the gym to get their bench press weights. First up was Sena.

Edward laughed when Sena could only lift the bar. "Man, it's a good thing you're not a real player. I've known five year-olds who were stronger."

"Really," challenged Mamori. "Let's see how much you can do." She smirked. A shorty like him couldn't be all that strong.

Kurita put 25 kilos on a bench press and Edward lifted it with…one arm?! Sena reeled. He put it back down a frowned. "Don't you have something heavier?" Hiruma grinned and told the fatty to add 30 more kilos. The shrimp lifted it with ease. Ed scowled and put a twenty-kilo weight on either side. The blond strained a little at that, but still asked for more. Kurita helped him add 30 more kilos. Ed put his hands to the bar and breathed slowly in and out. Then he tightened his grip and lifted the load out of the holding brackets and pumped it up and down. When Edward finished lifting 125 kilos, the demon of Deimon cackled. He had the perfect position for the shorty. Somewhere in Ojo high school, a certain linebacker sneezed.

**In case you're wondering, 125 kilos is 275.578 pounds. I did just make Edward that strong. But he's still below Shin, so he can catch up a little. And Ed's known for his speed. Who liked the little fight with Mamori over grades? That kind of just...happened.**

**Please Review! This story needs lovin'.**


	3. Introduction to Football

Sena flipped open his schedule as he walked towards the clubhouse. "Our second game is against the Ojo White Knights."

"Hey, what're you looking at?" Ed asked as he ran up to him. Darn teacher, keeping him late because he'd put his feet on the desk.

"Just some stuff about our next opponent." Sena handed him the small book, with the name Ojo White Knights on one page and a list of details on the other.

Ed ran his eyes down the list. Strong, white, distance, scary with an underline… "What's so great about this team?"

Sena slumped. "They beat us last year 99 to 0." Ed flinched. That was one heck of a gap. "And they have this super strong player on their team," continued the smaller boy. He opened the door, prepared to look through all the mess to find another copy of the tournament brackets, and was promptly thrown for a loop by the pristine interior of the place.

"Whoa…" both boys stared wide-eyed at the place that, only a day ago, had been piled high with papers, photos, and dirty equipment.

Mamori popped out from behind some shelves and smiled at the two boys. Well, smiled at Sena. "I decided to take on the administrative work for the team. That way, you can focus on your managerial duties." Ed looked over at the squirming Sena and smirked. So this kid didn't want her to know about the whole running thing. Oh, this was just too good to pass up.

"Yeah," he yawned, "All that _running around _must get tiring." Sena froze. Oh yes. This was going to be fun. But then Kurita came in and rescued the runningback from the experienced teasing of a certain alchemist by transporting all of them into heavenly cake land. Edward resolved to start back up again later.

He was about to start up again when Hiruma came in, all but destroyed the cakes, and got Mamori yelling at him again. Would people stop interrupting him when he was trying to torture Sena? But the mini football field on the other side of the table top tore his attention away from the scrawny kid.

The taller blonde slammed his hand down on the tabletop. "I'm gonna explain the game against the White Knights." Hiruma started laying out a bunch of figurines-Ed's even had his antennae!-and Kurita took the opportunity to fill him and Sena in on the rules while the demon and the wannabe mother had another shouting match. Seriously, those two were worse than him and Winry!

Hiruma walked back over to the table leaving an indignant Mamori and said, "Okay, this is our strategy against the White Knights." He picked up the figures with 21 and 30 on their backs. "21 takes the ball and runs the whole way while 30 knocks down anyone who tries to stop them."

"That's it!?" shouted Sena.

"How do I knock them down?" asked Edward.

Hiruma raised an eyebrow at the kid. "You push them down. How else?"

"Oh, I don't know," drawled the other blond, leaning back in his chair. "I could roundhouse kick them, kick their legs out from under them, punch them in the gut, punch them in the face, you know." Then he smiled and Sena had the urge to run. Hiruma's smile was on Ed's face. "I could always just kick them between the legs."

Hiruma grinned. "As good as those sound, you can't get caught doing them or we'll get penalized."

Ed huffed. "Then what can I do?"

"Fatty!" the quarterback yelled, "teach him how to block and get away. I'm taking the others for strength training, especially you, manager." So while Edward was told how to protect Sena without getting penalized, Hiruma loaded up the weights and cackled.

When Edward got back to his apartment after about five hours of blocking practice with Kurita, Hiromu was waiting for him. He sighed. "You want to go over one of your chapters again?"

The artist nodded and brought up a box along with the customary vanilla folder. "I even brought cake this time. Plus," he dug in the paper bag at his feet, "I thought you might like to read some of the fan letters I've been getting about your character."

Ed balked. Why would he want to hear about what someone thought of his life? He'd lived it! He didn't need other's opinions! "Let's just go over your chapter, but after I shower."

"Oh." Hiromu experimentally sniffed. "Yeah, you stink. What've you been doing?"

"Football practice," answered the alchemist.

"Really?" Hiromu perked up at that. "What team are you playing for?"

"Deimon Devil Bats. I have my first game in a few days."

The other man nodded sagely. "Yes, I see. With your skills, you'd probably wipe out the whole team with just one kick."

"Kicking's illegal," answered the blond as he stowed away his books and other gear. "You only use your legs for running."

"Oh." The other man visibly deflated as he set the white box on the coffee table in the living room where he and Ed had their meetings, for lack of a better word.

Ed sighed. "You can start on the cake and lay out the chapter while I get cleaned up." Five minutes later, he was sitting on the living room floor pointing out how Armstrong was missing his curl on one page and the angle at which Hughes slipped his knives out of his sleeves. He had to admit, the other man was getting better. There weren't nearly as many mistakes. "How's the series going," he asked after they'd finished going over the pages and settled down with their respective pieces of cake.

The artist beamed. "You wouldn't believe how popular it is, Ed! I get loads of fan mail, especially about you!"

He would have continued, but Ed held up a hand. "I don't need to hear about it. But I am glad it's working out for you."

"Oh, that reminds me." he pulled a small envelope from his pocket. "That's your share of the salary for this month. Also, I'll be starting another volume soon. What should I put on the cover?"

Ed put his hands together in front of his face. "Something from the chapters in the volume. That way people can tell them apart, and it reminds them of what's inside without them having to rifle through the pages."

The artist chuckled. "What, had problems remembering which book was which?"

"With alchemy notes, definitely."

**If you look really closely at that manga frame, you can see the list I mentioned. What do you guys think of my OC with a famous name, Hiromu? Don't worry, it grows into something a bit more complicated than this. Please Review!**


	4. Blocking Basics

The next day, Kurita decided to continue the training with Ed, improving his blocking skills. "You put your hands here," he explained as he placed Ed's hands near his armpits, "And shove!" Kurita bore down on his shorter fellow player, only to be flipped over the younger boy's shoulder and onto his back. Kurita stared at the blue sky for a moment before sitting up and facing an expectant Ed who stood with his hands on his hips. Hiruma looked up at the sound of the thump and turned his attention towards the two powerhouses.

Ed asked, "How was that?"

"Well," Kurita answered with uncertainty, "Usually you push so the player is forced to go the other way."

"Oh. Let's try that, then." Kurita pushed him over in seconds. "Darn, his height gets me every time," Ed muttered to himself.

"Hey blondie!" Hiruma yelled from where he was running Sena through some drills while Mamori was occupied. "Try doing what you did the first time, only this time, go for the ribs instead of the armpits." Ed did, and flipped Kurita over his shoulder again. He looked down at his hands. The flips had been a lot easier when he'd put his hand lower of Kurita.

He looked at Kurita, who was once again lying on the ground. "Do you think we could try that again?" Kurita jumped up. Hiruma went back to his practice with Shorty.

After about an hour of working out the kinks for what Hiruma would name the Devil Bat Throw, They worked on pushing the conventional way, although it wasn't exactly even. Kurita couldn't get enough leverage on Ed since he had to reach down to get a grip on the boy's torso, and Ed's grip was too low to 'blue sky' someone, although he could push Kurita back a few feet when the giant wasn't using his full strength.

Ed loved every minute of it, except for the times he ended up ground into the dirt.

Kurita decided to teach Edward how to block someone coming in from the side when he thought the blond had a good grasp of the frontal blocking tactics. "You reach out, hook them on the shoulder, and throw them behind you, or just keep them away with one arm. Yours are too short for that, so we'll work on the other one." He demonstrated the hooking tackle and the alchemist soon tasted grass.

He jumped back to his feet and grabbed the much larger boy by his ribs. "Like this?" He pulled and Kurita staggered to the right a few feet before catching himself.

He smiled at the grinning blond. "Yes! Usually you want to get them off their feet so they can't come after you."

Ed's grin widened. "With someone else, maybe. Let's try it again." And both of them threw themselves back into practice.

Once he had the basics of that move down, they worked on the jumping tackle. You propelled yourself through the air after a player, grabbed them, and took them down with you when you landed. Ed's flexibility and leg strength soon made it his favorite move, although he resisted the urge to throw a flip or two into the mix. The others called them in to change back into regular clothes before either of them knew it.

At almost the tail end of practice, when they were all walking back to the clubhouse, Ed asked the biggest or his teammates, "What about a tackle from behind?"

Kurita opened his mouth to reply but Hiruma answered, "Grab them anywhere. Legs, waist, it doesn't matter." His tone made Sena shiver.

But Ed wasn't finished. "Oh yeah, like what?" In answer, HIruma pulled out a video tape from last year and shoved it into the TV.

He found the spot, grabbed Ed's head, and forced him to look at the screen. "Watch number 40." Ed watched the play unfold. Kurita tossed the ball back through his legs to Hiruma, who ran around the side, dodging the larger group of players in the middle. He had the ball tucked into one arm and used the other to push one of the team's defenders behind him. _Come on! _Ed shouted internally as he saw Hiruma make it past two more players, with no one standing between him and the end zone.

Then an arm shot out and grabbed Hiruma's side. The arm whipped him around and slammed him into the earth below, halting the play. The camera panned from Hiruma's helmet, up muscled legs and over the number 40 plastered on the other player's jersey, until it finally came to his face.

Ed didn't want to believe it. _How did Mustang get here? _ The black eyes, black hair, stern look, it was his superior in a football helmet. But no, it wasn't him, Ed decided after another look. The face was too narrow, the eyes not calculating enough, the smirk missing entirely. But the determination to overcome was still there.

It was the same no matter what Deimon tried. 40 just kept tackling. His frontal and side tackles knocked players, usually Hiruma, to the ground, but after a tackle from the back, Ed saw the on-screen quarterback clutch his side where the other player had grabbed him. Number 40 reminded him of Scar for a minute, deconstructing every play and player with his hands. This guy was good.

Hiruma hid his surprise at the excitement on the younger boy's face. "What team does he play for," the boy asked, golden eyes swimming in fire.

The devilish quarterback grinned. "Ojo White Knights."

"Will he try to stop Eyeshield?"

"Yep. It'll be your job to stop him." Hiruma looked over at the blond and wanted to cackle at the look on his face. This kid was raring for a fight.

"What's his name?"

"Seijuro Shin. He's famous for his spear tackle."

Ed looked back at the TV, paused at the moment Shin brought Hiruma to the ground for the last time during the game. "Sounds like fun."

After Sena, Ed, and the others left, Kurita looked over at his friend and saw a maniacal grin bearing his fangs. "That kid's got more fight that most would give him credit for. I can't wait to see the look on Shin's face when he gets tackled by the blondie."

**Come on, guys, this story needs some love! Read, Review, tell your friends!**


	5. The Starting Trashtalk

Ed smirked as he screeched to a halt at the playing field for the game against Ojo. That's what you got for showing up to practice late, although the dog treats had been a little excessive. Good thing the manager-or was he the runningback?-had warned him about possible penalties. He heard Sena say something about the crowd and looked over at the stands.

Great. Even if he wasn't completely Mustang, the guy still had fangirls. "Stupid Shin, stupid girls," he muttered under his breath. "What is it with girls and dark hair?"

"Shin?" asked Kurita as he came up behind the other boy. "They're here for Sakuraba. He's from a modeling agency."

"Who?" Kurita pointed the boy with fluffy blond hair and a slim build. Ed took one look at him and doubled over laughing. "That guy plays football? You're kidding! How does that hair even fit under his helmet?" Then he looked at Hiruma and Sena. "Never mind."

His stomach growled as he looked on enviously at the packed lunches of the other team. "Darn it," he griped, "where'd they get the money for that kind of service?"

"It's not nearly so deluxe," said Mamori from right next to him, with a wrapped box in her hands, "but I made it myself. Please help yourself." She unwrapped the box and the team pounced on the homemade snack. Edward had to hand it to her. She'd done a great job of lifting everyone's spirit, and the rice balls weren't that bad either. The carbohydrates mixed in with salt would give them energy and keep them hydrated. Although, he might be giving her too much credit where the salt was concerned. They were tasty, though. He glanced over at the other side of the field while he was munching and saw that Shin wasn't eating. _So he thinks he doesn't need to stock up on energy, huh? _Ed thought as he swallowed and took another bite. _I'll show him._

On the other side of the field, Miracle Ito had just finished planting the sticker on Sakuraba's helmet when he saw a flash of yellow from the other side of the field. His head whipped up as he spotted the long, swinging braid of golden hair from one of the players on the opposing team. Then the figure turned and gold eyes blazed in their direction. Ito almost fainted. Such brilliant coloring! Such long hair! He was kind of short, but that was no problem if they focused on ads that only involved him from the waist up. He certainly had a nice build in that area. He was about to scramble across the field and begin his introductory talk about the modeling agency when the quarterback on the other team lifted up a massive weapon. How did a high school student even get a gun that big? Maybe he'd better stay with Sakuraba's team.

"Ready, you meatheads?!" screamed the demonic player as he slammed the butt of his massive gun into the ground. "Today's game is different than last time! This is no child's play football game! This is war!"

"Last year? Did something happen?" Sena asked the giant next to him.

"Two of our support players got some bones broken." Kurita answered.

"By Shin, right?" Ed asked.

"Yeah," replied the big lineman, "but this year we have you and Sena!"

"How does that make any difference?" Ed scoffed. Kurita pointed at Hiruma, who was talking to the other support players.

"Eyeshield 21 will be the one with the ball," explained Himura. "He's the only one Shin will be trying to tackle. Number 30 will try to block him." Sena's eye twitched.

One of the players sighed. "Then they'll be the only ones with any broken bones." Sena's whole face twitched.

"That's a relief," a different guy exhaled. Ed looked over to soothe Sena and saw him ducking behind a bench, hooking his arm in his book bag.

Ed put his hand down on the book bag. "Are you really going to run away?" Sena looked down at the grass, tugged the bag away from Ed's restraining hands, and ran for the exit. _Such a shame, _Ed thought. _Two good legs, and all he does is run away._ He listened to the other players talk about revenge and how at least now they had a decent chance. Ed's hands clenched into fists. How could that kid raise their hopes and then deliberately disappoint them? Not even Mustang had done that to him!

Then Sena, fully suited up, was dragged out by that monstrosity of a dog-Ed swore it had alligator genes-and Ed grinned at him as the other players mobbed around him. _Perhaps I didn't give the kid enough credit, _he thought as he got into the huddle next to him. Hiruma got everyone's attention and cackled. "We didn't come here to defeat our opponent. We came to kill 'em!" A fire lit in the alchemist's eyes and he yelled out the battle cry along with everyone else.

"Kill them! Yeah!" And they ran onto the field.

Then Edward noticed something. Shin wasn't playing. That didn't make sense. Shin was one of their best, on both offence and defense. So why hadn't they put him in for the kickoff? _Those arrogant pricks! They're looking down on us! _Oh, now Ed was gonna whip them for sure. No one looked down on him like that and got away with it. He's _make _them put Shin in.

Sena walked past him shaking. He reached forward and grabbed the kid's shoulder to halt him. "Hey, don't worry. I'm gonna be running with you."

The runningback looked at the teen only a little taller than him, who bench pressed more than he weighed and ran almost as fast. His trembling subsided. The teams lined up facing each other, with Kurita in the middle, Hiruma right behind, with Sena and Ed off to the side, ready to make a run for it. The ball was kicked off…

And the game began!

**Yes, I know I'm taking forever with this. But hey, almost a whole volume goes by before Sena even stepped foot on a field. Ed needs the same number of pages to learn stuff! It's also incredibly hard to balance Ed's entrance with Sena's first real struggle and Shin's introduction. I'm writing those chapters now. I've had to do a lot of research!**


	6. Playing the Game

They got set to run, with Hiruma behind the line and the two secret weapons, Sena and Edward, behind him. The blond let his cleats sink into the turf. _This feels like the time I faced off against Mustang, _ he thought. _It's the same tension. I'm gonna prove something today. _He could feel it singing in his blood. Rocketing through the big linemen's legs, the ball hit Hiruma's outstretched hands and numbers 21 and 30 ran.

Edward pulled ahead so he could protect guys coming from the front while the smaller runningback got the ball. The field behind them filled with dirt clods as the cleats did their jobs and dug into the ground, giving both a boost. Around the edge of the mass they sprinted, avoiding the huge mass of players at the center of the field. Ed brought up his arms to guard against one of the side runners when someone shouted "Get It!" He whipped around and saw that the ball had been knocked out of Sena's hands. Digging the spikes on his cleats into the dirt, Ed reversed direction and headed for the scramble of players in the middle of the field. Just as he reached it, the ref saw the ball in Kurita's arms and the Devil Bat breathed out in relief. Then Ed saw Hiruma walk over to the shorter boy. Oh no.

Ed laughed a little at the impromptu lesson. Hadn't anyone taught him how to hold a ball between their last game and this one? If he'd had time to learn all those different blocks, certainly Hiruma had to the time to teach him how to hold the ball. Or was he too focused on the boy's speed. _To train the mind, you've got to train the body. In this case, it's the opposite, _thought Ed, cheerfully remembering the hours Teacher spent drilling that into his head. _All the speed and strength in the world doesn't do any good unless you know how to use it._ He glanced at the other side of the field and noticed Shin staring at him.

The other teen had never been so puzzled by anyone in his life. The player with the eyeshield had been easy to discern, a touch football player with extensive running training. But 30…Shin couldn't figure him out. Why were two of his limbs stiffer than the others? Was it intentional, meant to throw him off? Old injuries? No, he'd be more careful with them if that were it. Then what was it?

Hiruma called everyone together and they got back in their huddle. "Alright, we'll do the same as before."

"It won't work," interjected Ed. "Our linemen can't hold them off long enough." The other boys hung their heads.

"There's no way amateurs can stop the White Knights. So I'm not expecting perfect blocking from you. Half a second." They looked back up at the quarterback. "You've got to hold your assigned man for just half a second. That's enough time for 21 and 30 to get through." The team nodded and took their positions on the field.

Kurita ran over to their shortest team member. "Sena! Sena!" He stopped in front of the runningback. The white knight's defense is probably the best in the country. It's too much to ask that one person could beat them. Think of us linemen and Edward as your shields!"

Sena looked around at the different linemen and Edward, thinking of how they worked together to protect him. It was like the sturdy wall of a castle. He looked down at his feet. _These cleats really work! I don't slip at all! _He glanced at the ball, firmly tucked into his body. _And I know how to hold the ball now._ He looked at the shield in front of him, with the big 30, and the wall of protectors not far in front of him. _I can do this!_ "Hut!" the ball traveled back and into Sena's waiting hands.

He took off with his Edward shield in front and with the wall of players keeping the linemen occupied. The smaller runningback watched as the other team's number 30 tried to intercept. But Ed's arm snaked around his ribs and threw him to the ground, leaving the path for both of them open. The next player came head on, so Ed pushed against his ribcage and kept the area clear. A few cuts around other players, and Sena passed all the opposition. From there, it was just open yards.

Shin stared after the emboldened Eyeshield 21. Where had that timidity gone? Then he felt a heat coming from further down on the field. Number 30 was staring at him, his opponent tossed on the ground. _Yeah, _his gaze seemed to say, _you didn't expect that, did you? _ A scream of "Touchdown!" filled the field and the eye contact was broken as the Devil Bat players ran up the field to congratulate their teammate.

The Ojo coach threw his water on the ground, furious. "Darn it! How could this happen?! And against Deimon, no less…" They hadn't given up points to anyone but the Nagas in their last season. How had this cobbled-together team managed to pull the rug out from under them and get their scrawny paws on the endzone?!

"Coach," Shin said to the furious man beside him, "I've misjudged our opponents. Most likely, over the course of many years, number twenty-one has undergone specialized training to develop his running power. Number 30 has most likely gone through the same level of strength training. Those are no rookie football players." Shoji looked over at the field, where most of the opposing team was throwing 21 into the air, with the exceptions of numbers 1 and 30, who watched. Number 30 even had a smile on his face.

The Deimon players from last year gathered around Sena. "Amazing! All by himself, this guy did what we couldn't do! Awesome!" Ed grinned to himself. Victory did give you quite a rush.

"No, that was…" Ed flinched at the gravelly voice behind him. Was the kid sick or something? Then he spoke again, lighter, but not as light as usual. _That's right, _Edward realized, _he can't let anyone find out it's him. _"No, that touchdown was due to everyone's strength. If it weren't for all of your blocking, I wouldn't have made it all the way."

Hiruma watched as the others players perked up at that. _Shorty's jumping right into character. Alright then, better get back in the fray so we don't lose momentum. _"All right, huddle up! We're going for the extra-point conversion!"

**It's so hard to balance Ed and Sena in this! I want to just go all out with and leave Sena wondering, but I can't because that would ruin the whole story! How am I doing keeping a balance between them? Please review!**


	7. They Poked the Sleeping Dragon

The Devil bats lined up on the field with Hiruma and the kicking tee in the middle behind the line and Sena waiting for the handoff. Sena grabbed the ball and set the whole thing up perfectly, and then at the last minute grabbed it and started running for the side like he always had before. Then Otawara broke through the line. They really should have put the guy up against Kurita, not the other lightweights. Ed readied himself to defend when...Whoosh!

Sena, frightened out of his wits by the behemoth charging after him, ran right past him in the opposite direction they were supposed to be going and off the sidelines, ending the play. Ed sat down on the bench to get a moment of rest while Hiruma did the kick-off but was jolted up again when massive screaming rose from the other side of the field. He looked up and scowled as the team switched out their players. "Oh great," he muttered, "Pretty Boy's playing." All the same, he huddled up with the other players. When they broke and got into position, Edward grinned. This could either go horribly wrong or turn the tide. He liked those odds.

The alchemist gritted his teeth as they let Ojo get pass after pass after pass. Sure, it was needed to lull them into a false sense of security, but it still hurt! And that idiot pretty boy was getting all the glory! He couldn't take the screaming from Ojo's side of the field much longer without punching something. Then Hiruma looked back at him and Sena. They were less than twenty yards away from their own goal line. It was time to end this charade.

This time, when they lined up, Ed stood behind Kurita to the right instead of further up, assisting the line like he had been on the previous plays. Sakuraba would probably run around on the other side, so he needed to be here and ready when Sena headed up his side with the ball, if they got that far. He dug his cleats into the dirt and waited.

The play started like the other ones had. Sakuraba ran around to the left and past the mass of players in the middle while the line kept them from sacking the Ojo quarterback. But this time, when Sakuraba started running, so did Sena. The ball spiraled through the air and the Deimon runningback raced past its shadow on the ground. Sakuraba didn't pay him much mind. He was taller, so there was really nothing Eyeshield could do against him.

Except that when the kid jumped up in front of him couldn't see the ball! The other kid's hands were blocking him out! Haruno swerved to get a better look and missed catching the ball by seconds as Eyeshield curved his fingers around it…

Only to have the stupid leather-skinned airbag fly right out of his hands! Ed almost smacked his helmet in an effort to facepalm. The kid had only been playing for what, a couple weeks? They couldn't expect him to actually catch the ball. But then two, long-fingered hands grabbed the ball and Ed got ready to run as Sena came his way waiting for the pass from Hiruma. There it was! _Okay, _Ed reprimanded in his head. _This is our chance to get a victory._ Both boys took off in the direction of their opponent's end zone.

Sena felt incredibly light. There was no one in front of them. They had all been drawn away by Hiruma's fake run. He could just run to the end zone. But then he saw Ojo's number 49 coming up from the side.

The runningback's heart starting racing. No, he wasn't going to get tackled! Not when he was that close! He veered off to the side and away from the other player whose relentless pursuit…

Was stopped by number 30, frontal tackle. "Go!" Ed screamed at his teammate and the runningback took off again, just inside bounds, tearing up the grass all the way to the end zone.

As Sena looked back at where Ed was blocking, he took one step too far. The ref's whistle blew "Out of bounds!" Sena looked down and saw the sideline just one step behind him, but he still had a smile on his face. They were only eight yards away from the goal line. A cheer rose up from the Deimon side of the field and the other players. Ed released his now sagging opponent, ran up to Sena and put up his hand. The other boy smiled, albeit timidly, and high-fived him.

On the Ojo sidelines, Coach Shoji glared with crossed arms amidst his dispirited team. The air crackled around him. "Never expected to find ourselves in this situation against Deimon. It's all because we didn't count on those guys being there." Eyeshield 21 and the blond, unknown Number 30. He'd known to expect _something _from 21, but he hadn't even heard of the other kid. Had he joined the team recently? He glanced from them up into the stands. "And we can't bumble this while Shinryuji is watching." He looked over at the young man sitting on the bench next to him. "Shin."

"Yes, sir," the boy answered.

"Put an end to this."

"Yes, sir."

Ed felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Something was coming. He looked over at the other team and saw one figure get up and walk over to where his teammates stood. He grinned as Shin snapped on his helmet and the whole Ojo team straightened up from their defeated, slouched positions. Things just got more interesting.

And then Hiruma kicked Sena towards the linebacker.

**Okay, questions. I have a few different ideas for this story and wanted to get some opinions before I wrote further.**

**Should I make the story between Hiromu and Ed bigger?**

**Should I make the story of Miracle Ito trying to recruit Ed for the modeling agency? I think it would be a funny gag.**

**Should Ed have a love interest? Someone with a man crush on him?**

**Who should find out about Ed's automail first?**

**Please review and give your opinions!**


	8. That's Gotta Hurt

"Oh, it's a declaration of war!" said one of the Deimon fill-in players.

"This'll be something to see! Japan's strongest vs. Notre Dame!" said another. But various calls of "Come on!" and "What?!" filled the air as Sena turned tail.

"Coward!" screamed Hiruma as Kurita tried to calm him down. He muttered under his breath, "Doesn't take much effort to talk. It'll be to our advantage if we shake them up a little bit." Ed rolled his eyes at his quarterback's shrieking about a pass. Honestly, that misdirection was so obvious it couldn't fool anyone smarter than Otawara.

Shin studied the opponent's lineup. They'd probably give the ball to Number 21 and have him run to the right like before. He watched the previous play happen again, with Eyeshield getting the ball from the quarterback and running to the right. But as 21 ran past Otawara, it struck him how few linemen were on the right. He checked the middle. Three linemen! A yell from Otawara convinced him. "He switched directions!" Eyeshield was going up the middle! Shin sprinted towards the three players, with 21 between 77 and 30. He dodged around the big one and ran for 21.

"The aces face off!" someone on the Ojo side shouted. Sena waited until the Knight's ace was right in front of him, cut to the side, and ran right past the bigger boy.

"He got past him!" Mamori shouted happily from the stands.

"No way," commented one of the scouts from the Nagas. "This is Shin's game."

Shin swiveled on the ball of his foot, and reached out to Sena to grab him around the ribs. It was his spear tackle, feared by the whole Japanese world of football. He reached and almost brushed Sena's jersey. Then pain erupted on his right side.

He'd forgotten about number 30.

Sometimes witnessing what it's like to be the other player is terrifying. To know how it feels to have someone's iron-hard arm slip around your waist and grab your ribs so hard it's like a jolt up your spine all the way to your brain. How it feels when you fall to the dirt with the other player beside or on top of you, their other hand fisted in your jersey. How it feels to get up and stare at the number that took you down. Only for Shin, it wasn't 40. It was 30.

"Touchdown" echoed across the field, but few were watching the end zone. Agon's binoculars fell from his hand as he tried to wrap his head around the fact that Shin just got tackled by his own move.

Ed got up from the dirt and held out a hand to Shin. The linebacker grabbed it and pulled himself up. "Penalty!" Screamed the ref from the sidelines. "Uniform violation!" He pointed at Edward's wrist. "Illegal uncovered arm brace!" Ed looked down at his wrist. _Shoot! _His sleeve had ridden up his arm during the tackle, exposing an inch of gleaming metal. The ref grabbed the offending wrist and Ed yanked it away. "I'm sorry, but you can't play with exposed metal like that. It could injure the other players. You'll have to take it off for the duration of the game or you can't play."

Ed hung his head. Stupid automail arm. He walked back over to the Deimon side of the field. "However," the ref informed the crowd, "the touchdown is still valid. If Deimon has no substitute players, they'll forfeit the game."

Hiruma steamed as he grabbed one of the male spectators here for Mamori and slapped them in a football uniform. That brat! How dare he wear illegal stuff and get caught! Hiruma was going to spend all day after the game cooking up a penalty game for that! They lined up for Ojo's offensive move with Hiruma still furious.

Mamori scooted over to the blond on the bench as Shin ran for a touchdown. "Come on, let's go get that thing off you," she said kindly. He mumbled something. "What was that?"

"I said," repeated the blond, "it doesn't come off." He fell silent after that, no matter how much the female manager pestered him. They watched as Ojo trampled their friends. Shin seemed determined to prove himself master of the spear tackle, and Sakuraba's catching kept the point tally for the Knights growing. The score at half-time was 35 to 12.

When the whistle sounded, Sena ran for the bathroom and locked himself in a stall. He stripped of the jersey and guards and searched his torso. _If it weren't for the protective gear, I'm sure I'd have some broken bones. I can't take it anymore,_ he thought as he removed the neck role, the last piece of the uniform. _I don't like this pain! I hope Edward-san gets back in the game to protect me from Shin!_

A clatter from the stall right next to him made him jump. "What the heck was that out there!?" _It's Hiruma-san. If he finds out I'm in here-_ "What were you trying to pull with that uniform stunt?" Silence. "Answer me!"

"I wasn't trying to pull anything." Sena had to strain to hear what Edward-san said.

"Then what do you call this?" There was a rustle of fabric, as if Hiruma had pushed up his sleeve. Silence again.

A sigh and then, "They won't let me play like this. If we can't find a way around that rule, I can't play at all. That's it." Hiruma stared at the metal arm in his hand. He suddenly felt very uncertain. Ed pushed down the sleeve on his shirt and exited the room. The demonic quarterback followed.

Sena shivered in the stall next to them. If Ed didn't come back on the field, he'd get killed out there! He had to get out of this before he really got hurt. He quickly wrote down a note saying Eyeshield had to leave and went out to deliver the 'bad news' to his teammates.

"Hey, you're back," Mamori shouted when she saw Sena running towards them with a grocery bag. "You must've had to go really far." Well now that he was here, she could introduce him to Eyeshield 21. "Huh…? Where's Eyeshield 21?" She mumbled as she looked around for the short hero.

"I just ran into him over there," Sena stuttered out. "It looked like he was leaving…or something…"

Number 13 shouted, "Now Way!" Now they were all at risk of Shin's tackle, with Edward-san benched and Eyeshield gone.

"Well, you can't really blame him," another player added. "After Edward-san was taken out of the game, we left Eyeshield to fight Shin on his own. We didn't even try to block the others."

"Yeah, we haven't been pulling our own weight," Number 81 grumbled.

Mamori looked down at her feet. "How could he have abandoned us?"

Sena turned away from them to avoid looking at their faces when he saw Edward sitting on the bench. Edward, who wanted to play but couldn't because of some stupid thing on his arm. He glanced at Shin. The linebacker was putting his glove back on, getting ready for the next tackle. But still, everyone around him was giving their all. How could he run away from that? He fisted the note in his hand and ran to get suited up again.

**Thanks to everyone who gave their opinions about what I asked last chapter. As you can see, I decided who gets to find out about Edward's arm first. It'll just be mainly Sena and the others for a while until we get out of the Ojo game. Please keep reviewing!**


	9. Let's Push

Ten minutes later, he couldn't decide if his decision to play had been a good one. His ribs, no, his whole torso felt bruised. But he could feel he was getting closer. "While he's reaching out…I've got to turn just a little bit quicker. This is kind of tricky…"

The Devil Bats lined up for another offensive and Hiruma handed Sena the ball. He ran up the side through the line and saw Shin waiting for him. _This is it! I can't just dodge to the side. What if I try…_ Shin clenched his fingers and reached out for 21, prepared for him to swerve out of the way. Right as he reached the other player, instead of cutting, Sena jammed his left foot into the ground and pivoted on it, spinning around the other player before he could blink. But in the next blink, Shin reached out and snagged him by the back of his jersey. But the spin had bought Sena more time than the cut. If he could just go a little faster!

Shin stood up. "That Eyeshield," he commented to Otawara, "he's playing both offence and defense. With this kind of anaerobic exercise, by now his muscles should be burning with lactic acid." _He should be tired by now. But little by little, _he looked back at his opponent, _it seems as if…_

Ed grinned from the sidelines. _He's getting faster!_

Hiruma noticed the change and walked up to the feared player. "Eyeshield 21 made a name for himself at Notre Dame, as a light-speed runningback. I just want to make one thing clear," he added, showing off his fangs in a grin. "This guy is even faster than you are."

He made to walk away and go bug Otawara, but Shin grabbed his shoulder. "Your number 30 is a cheat. He tackled me with a braced arm."

But the quarterback didn't stop grinning. "He tackled you with his left arm. That one didn't have a brace." He grinned at the fire that little tidbit lit in the other player's eyes.

But it was gone a moment later. "It's a useless pretense," he added dismissively. "Our team is unshakeable." Then his cool demeanor fell away at how quickly Otawara proved him wrong.

Hiruma benched Sena for their next defensive play, giving him time to rest his legs. The two runningbacks watched from the sidelines as Ojo devastated them again, despite Hiruma's and Kurita's attempts to stop their passing game. Ed did take a moment to laugh at the totally steamed Otawara, though. "Kurita looks like he's having fun out there," commented the blond.

"But we're losing!"

Ed looked over that the shorter boy. "Just because we're losing doesn't mean we can't enjoy the game. Think about it. This is the first time Hiruma and Kurita have played a game with other real players. They're probably having the time of their lives, even if we are losing." Sena looked at the field again. Kurita was smiling.

Hiruma looked over at the scoreboards. Ojo now had a 44 point lead on them. Even with five touchdowns' they wouldn't catch up. "Hmph! Game's as good as over." He took off his helmet and started to pack up.

Then a hand crashed down on his bag. He looked up and saw Ed staring at him. "Two good legs and all you do is run away?" Sena came up to stand behind his fellow runningback.

"Whatever happens next I don't care." Hiruma started taking off his wristbands. "I'm outta here." He went to put them in his bag, but Ed's hand blocked the opening. He looked straight into the other player's face. "Until a few seconds ago, we had a millionth of a chance of still winning. But now it's absolutely zero." Still, the shrimp wouldn't move his hand. "All that's left is for them to kill time with their huddle." He turned away and made for the exit.

"But they won't," countered the shrimp, "because we made them take us seriously." Hiruma turned back to the two shrimps. "We forced them to bring out their best player. We got two touchdowns from a team that never gave up any points. We need to keep moving forward and see how far we can push them."

"Just a little more," piped up the other pipsqueak. "I can beat him! Shin, I mean." He looked down at his legs. "A little more. Just a little more!" So, this brat wanted to see how far he could push Shin? Well, at least they had passion.

"So you really want to do it, huh? Beat Shin?" Hiruma doubted the kid would answ-

"Yes!" He looked like he wanted to say more, but Edward cut him off by yelling for a huddle. Hiruma snapped his helmet back on. If his team wanted to push Ojo, they would push Ojo.

Right into the end zone.

Hiruma set up the play, perfect for a run by Sena. Shin watched as he streaked past Otawara's looming form. _He's even faster now! _He reached out and just snagged the player's uniform, but it threatened to pull away from his fingers, so he snapped it back and sent Eyeshield flying.

Shoji looked on in mild surprise. _Shin's actually getting worked up. _Then he saw how the linebacker looked from 21 to the benched 30. _That's odd._

Shin glowered at the figure on the sidelines. He would not let the other boy's tackle best him. He would practice until he could beat anyone with it. He looked back at the bowled over 21. This player needed to be stopped, and he was the only one with the speed to do it. "Otawara," he called out. The big lineman lumbered over to him. "By the way the quarterback's telling his players to block, it's as if he wants that Eyeshield 21 and me to face off."

"You want me to back you up," asked the other boy.

"No, it's more important that you stop the others. It will be fine if you just let Eyeshield 21 come my way." He pulled his glove on more securely. "He won't get past me."

**I know there wasn't much Ed in this chapter, except for his chastising of Hiruma. It's sort of like fighting someone you know is stronger than you, just to see how you measure up. **

**Who watched the game last Sunday? Now I call that a Devil Bat victory! **


	10. Defeated?

Ed roared at the last failed play. Stupid arm! If he were out there, Shin wouldn't have a chance. The water bottle Mamori had given him splintered in his right hand as Shin tackled Sena yet again. But still, he couldn't help grinning. The Devil runningback just kept getting faster. How long would it be before Shin couldn't even touch him?

"Hello, sir," said an annoyance to his right. Ed looked over and saw a thin man in a suit with an annoying gold tooth. He shuddered at the memory of another person with a gold tooth. "I'm Miracle Ito, from a modeling agency."

"Not interested," Ed cut him off, swatting at his right. One of the news team dragged Ito back to the other side, knocked out cold when Ed's hand mistakenly connected with his face. Ed didn't even notice as he turned back to the game. Ito woke up in a few minutes anyway; just in time to watch what Ed thought was the funniest part of the whole game.

With the clock at less than two minutes, he laughed uproariously at Sena's first tackle, intentional or not. Chasing a sticker onto a football field where 22 players were battling it out? That was just plain stupid! What was the other guy thinking? And the comments from the girls just made him laugh louder. If they wanted to idolize someone, they should at least pick someone who had some intelligence. He'd give Mustang that much. This kid Sakuraba had none of that. In fact, many of the plays he'd been a part of had fallen apart. Yet when Shin stepped on the field, the whole tide turned. It was clear who the real Ojo ace was. Deimon's ace…that was still undecided. Man, he wanted to get back out there.

Finally, it was down to the last few seconds on the clock and Sena joined the huddle for what would be their last offensive run of the game. "Okay!" Hiruma started. "Hardly any time left. Shall we go out with a bang?" He grinned at the other players. "Shin and Otawara have been fiercely guarding the middle. So we keep going to the outside." The other players nodded. They understood that much. "This time we'll break through the center." _It's the perfect way for Sena to see if he can beat Shin, _thought Hiruma as he pointed at the diminutive runningback. "Go as fast as you can! Run straight ahead after the snap!" They lined up on the field.

Kurita snapped back the ball and grabbed Otawara by the shoulders. He had to get the other lineman out of the way for Sena! Shin waited for Eyeshield, but had to scramble out of the way and the Deimon powerhouse took down his fellow player. What the…?

Sena charged through the center gab, past the pairs of wrestling opponents, right up the middle towards the end zone. But he could feel Shin closing in. _That's it. There's no escape. _Then his train of thought turned in a new direction. _That's not right. Everyone worked hard to give me this chance. Just a little more. _"Are you going to run away?" Ed's words echoed in his head. _No! _ He answered. _I'm gonna beat him! _

And Sena discovered Light Speed.

Shin watched as for the second time that day, he was outmatched. The speed that no strength could touch… he watched as that sole factor scored the third touchdown for the Devil Bats. The Nagas in the stands wore the same expression. In fact, half the stadium looked on in slight awe.

The spell was broken when Sena collapsed right inside the end zone. The Devil Bats, benched and on the field, ran forward. "He's down," Hiruma announced, but added, "It's just exhaustion, that's all," when Mamori started fussing over him.

"Guess your endurance needs work," said Ed as the runningback was lifted onto Kurita's back.

"Hey pipsqueak," Ed bristled, before he realized Hiruma was talking to Sena. "It only happened once. You tried dozens of times, and you only succeeded once, but you did it." He grinned up at the smaller boy, and somehow, his face didn't look as demonic as usual. "You beat him!" Sena went back to the bench with a smile on his face.

While Deimon went on the defensive against Ojo for the last time, Mamori passed a water bottle to Sena. "Here you go, great job."

Sena lowered his voice and said, "Thanks Mamori." Ed's face met palm as Sena jolted when he realized his slip-up. _If you're going to watch how you say it, watch what you say too, _thought Ed as he glowered at the boy who was quickly trying to keep from being discovered.

"Are you friends with Sena?" Edward's hand met face again. She was just as clueless as the rest! "Did Sena tell you about me?" The blond tried to keep from laughing. It sort of reminded him of how people used to mix him and Al up. _Preconceptions are harsh._ He tuned out the rest of the conversation just in time to hear the whistle go off, marking the end of the game. The alchemist looked over at the scoreboard. Ojo had won, 68 to 18. Well, it was a whole lot better than last year's scores.

"It's all over," Kurita said. "We finally won our first game. Now the season's all over for us."

"What do you mean?" Asked Ed.

"We're eliminated from the tournament," Hiruma said from right next to Edward, startling him a bit. "It's over." The air filled with Kurita's sobs and barking from somewhere.

The Devil Bats came out of their slump and walked over to the other side of the field, bowing to their opponent's coach, Sena between Edward and Kurita. Then they crossed the field and met the Ojo team halfway. Shin watched the two runningbacks approach. One with speed he couldn't touch, the other with power to match his own. As he ran between them, he challenged, "Ojo's going to the Christmas Bowl." He ran back to his side of the field.

Ed looked over at Sena. "What do you think he meant?"

The other boy shrugged. "No idea."

Shoji watched the exchange thoughtfully. Had he just seen the start of a three-way rivalry?

The news crew ambushed the Devil Bats by the entrance to the field. The woman ran towards the still-sobbing Kurita. "Excuse me, could we ask you-"

Then Hiruma cut her off as he grabbed the camera lens. Kurita wiped at his face. "Hiruma's looking out for me."

"No way," Ed, Mamori, and Sena said at the same time. And they were right. Now the camera shot was filled with "Three touchdowns against Ojo! Deimon Devil Bats!"

**Sorry, I know there's not much Ed in this chapter. I did get him in, though! Did you enjoy the first joke with the modeling company? Too bad Ito doesn't give up that easily.**

**I'm torturing myself. I read volumes 6-8 yesterday, so now I want to jump straight to the action! But I have to wake through a ton of other stuff first!**


	11. Gearing Back Up

The day after the game against Ojo was a Saturday, so Edward just hung out at his apartment. He would've gone to the gym and worked with their weights, but what was the point? The season was over. That was the end of it. He rolled over on the couch and put his chin in his hands. He kinda wished he'd been able to play a little longer. Playing only half the first quarter before you go pulled out on some technicality was not his idea of fighting. The doorbell rang and he got up to answer it.

"Hey! Hiromu waved at him cheerfully. "I saw your game yesterday! I even taped it! You got a player in there?"

Edward nodded. "I didn't see you in the stands. Where were you?"

"Oh I was on the Ojo side, kinda got swept along by the crowd. Way too many girls."

Ed growled, "Stupid pretty boy Sakuraba."

"Yeah." Hiromu chuckled. "You played really well, though! I wish you'd gotten to play more of the game. I brought it to go over with you."

Ed shrugged. "Sure, but first we should look over the chapter for this week. Did you bring it?"

Hirumo nodded. "Yep, but I really wanted to watch the game with you. I can't wait to see how you guys do in the fall season. That was an amazing game!"

"What fall season," Ed droned out.

"American Football has two seasons, one in the spring and one in the fall. The fall season's the real one that everyone gets excited about! How do you not know this? The Christmas Bowl is the highlight of American Football in Japan."

_Christmas bowl…_Ed knocked the term around in his head. _Where have I heard that before? _Then he remembered the flash of black eyes, the challenge. _So that's what Shin meant! _He grinned. "Hey Hiromu," the artist looked up from the video player. "Why don't we talk some more about the Christmas Bowl?"

After a quick session about the chapter and upcoming story line and several hours of going over and over the game, Hiromu left Ed's apartment. The alchemist quickly slipped into his room, dressed in jogging clothes and started running at top speed around the block. He had a goal now, and all he could do was move forward.

* * *

"Sena, wait up," Edward called out when he saw the other boy walking ahead towards the school. He caught up quickly. "Hey, why are you carrying a football? Practice isn't 'till later."

Sena flinched. "Hiruma-san's making me practice my grip all day."

"Yeah," chuckled Ed. "You do have kinda slippery hands." A ball flew over the fence and landed next to them. "What the…"

"Hey, a little help! The ball. Throw it here." The boys looked forward and saw a kid with a huge basket. Sena looked down at the ball in his hands and shrugged. He threw the football at the other boy. Ed winced as Sena's poor throw sent the ball directly in front of a truck. _Hiruma will probably kill him for damaging the equipment-_

Smack! The sound of leather hitting flesh reached his ears. Ed looked back up. The boy from earlier was standing there with the ball in his hands. Now that his hat had fallen off and he wasn't holding the basket, the boys could actually see his face. The super thick eyebrows made Ed want to laugh, although his spiky hair looked a little like Sena's. He just had lots of smaller spikes, not two big ones. What happened to his nose, or did he wear the bandage all the time? But what thing Ed knew for sure, this kid was mad.

"I meant the baseball," the boy, now with steam coming out of his nose, shouted at Sena. The shorter boy looked over at the ball that had landed next to them a few moments ago. "If you'd bother to look at my uniform, you'd know I meant the ball right behind you!"

"Oh, this thing?" Ed picked up the ball and threw it towards the other boy. The boy dropped the football and neatly caught the new projectile.

Then he screamed at Ed, now with steam coming out of his nose and ears. How did he even get his ears to do that? "Don't throw something at me when my hands are already full!"

Ed smirked. "If you can't even hold a ball with one hand, you must not be much good at your sport. I thought baseball was all about throwing and catching?"

Sena tried to warn Edward not to antagonize the kid, but he was too late. "So what if I'm always the ball fetcher. I'm still a member of the baseball team!"

"He didn't mean it," Sena tried to placate.

But Ed wasn't done yet. "If you show me you can hold the football with one hand, I'll admit you can catch." He smirked, but the expression dropped when the boy did just that. Ed's opinion of him rose. The kid had a way better grip on the ball then Sena. And that was with one hand!

"That's incredible," Sena commented from the peanut gallery. "He's got it right in the middle." He walked up to the boy and took the ball. "My hands are small, so I can only grab hold of the ends."

"It's easier to hold where the laces are," the boy offered. His anger seemed to have died out. He handed Sena the ball and started showing him how to grip on the laces. Ed walked over and had a look too.

Then someone called, "Hey, ball boy! What are you doing?!"

"Gotta go." He gave them a one handed salute. "See ya, football players!"

Sena stared back down at the ball. "He caught it so easily…I really need to work on this."

"Maybe you could buy your own," offered Ed. "I wonder how much they cost," he wondered aloud as he pulled the door to the clubhouse open.

The casino interior blared at Edward like a foghorn and he slammed the door shut. What on earth? Sena pulled at his sleeve and he looked over at the boy before lifting his eyes up to see…"What the heck?!" Mamori, Sena, and Ed all shouted.

**I love how many people are reading this, even though it's in a difficult spot to find! But it hurts my heart that so few of you decided to review. I'm really not good at these things, so I would appreciate some help!**


	12. The Catcher

"Oh Hi Mamori," Sena turned around to greet the girl while Ed just kept staring at the top of their clubhouse. What had Hiruma done to the thing? "What's that?" the shorter boy asked, pointing to the rolls of paper in her arms.

She grinned sneakily. "Our secret weapon."

"Oh they're done?" Hiruma snatched on of the posters away from Mamori and unfurled it with a snap. Ed looked around a stunned Sena at the poster. "Eyeshield 21" was written at the top in big, bright red lettering with a huge photograph of suited-up Sena right below it. The picture made him look pretty darn cool, Ed had to admit. Writing framed the shot on the three sides that weren't occupied by the title. "He scored two touchdowns against the Ojo White Knights!", "Join us in battle on the field!" and "The hero from Notre Dame has come to play at Deimon!" shouted out in bright colors. Hiruma really meant business with these things.

"The Ojo game was on TV last night. That combined with these will help us with the recruiting," he explained. "And we've gussied up the clubhouse too," he added, glancing up at the huge sign above the door.

"Yeah, can anyone say overkill?" Ed pushed past Sena and into the room again.

The runningback followed "Somehow it seems bigger inside," he said, looking around at the slot machines and at the table.

Hiruma laid a bundle of posters down on the table. "We've got to get a full roster of players who practice as part of the team. If we showed up for the fall tournament with what we've got now, we'd lose for sure."

"Right." Kurita set down his load as well and started sorting the posters into piles. "At the very least we need a receiver. It's no good if none of us can catch passes."

"Hey!" Ed yelled, "I can catch passes!"

"We don't know if you can even play," shouted Hiruma as he tried to land a kick on the blond's side. Ed dodged out of the way and smirked at the older boy. "Besides, you're better as a guard. We still need a receiver." Edward and Sena looked at each other. They remembered how easily that boy from earlier had caught the ball, and held it with only one hand. _That guy would be perfect. _"If we're going to train someone, he may as well be tall. That can be all the advantage a receiver needs." And just like that, the boys' hopes were crushed.

Hiruma handed them each a bundle of posters. "All right, hang these up throughout the school. Twenty posters for each person!"

"Don't we need permission to put them up," Sena asked from behind his poster-laden arms. Hiruma just cackled.

Edward finished putting up his second-to-last poster in the weight area of the gym. Heck, if someone wanted a strong body, they would be interested in using it, right? It made sense. He finished taping up the poster, unfurled the last one, and grabbed a marker out of his school bag. With the cap held between his teeth, he wrote on the bottom of the poster in bold lettering, "Especially looking for players who can catch, no other skills required." He recapped the marker and slid it back into his bag. Now he just had to find out where the kid from that morning was sure to look.

The kid had played baseball, right? You didn't need a whole lot of muscle for that, so the weight room wasn't a good idea. They probably didn't use the gym much either. Wait! He'd had that huge basket of baseballs with him yesterday. And he had said he usually had to pick up the balls. He'd put the poster in that basket. He started looking for the gym's supply closet.

Minutes after Ed left the supply closet to go and tell Hiruma that he'd finished, the doors opened up again. Taro Raimon walked in, head hung. They were doing throwing drills today. Why couldn't catching be enough for him to win at this sport? He grabbed the basket and hauled it out of the dim room and into the sunlight. The picture shouted at him, "Players who can catch, no other skills required."

"Just catching, huh?" Raimon looked down at his hands. He remembered how that ball from yesterday, the football one, had felt in his hands. Then he shook his head and shoved the poster in his back pocket. No, Baseball was his sport. But later, after half an hour of failed throws, he couldn't get that black writing out of his head. "No other skills required."

Back in the clubroom, Hiruma was counting the team funds the casino interior had raked in and Kurita was snacking at the table with Mamori. "You know," the giant said between bites, "Ever since you, Edward and Sena joined the team, it sure has been lively here at the clubhouse." He started ticking off names. "There's me, Hiruma, Sena, Edward, Mamori, and then with Mushashi that makes six of us."

Hiruma looked up from the money he was shuffling. "Give it up. What'd I tell you? You're not to say a word about him to anyone, you fool. Anyway, we're not talking about a kicker, are we? Right now we need a receiver." He snapped a rubber band around the wad of cash and slapped it down on the table top. "We might need someone to replace the blondie as well."

Kurita smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure he'll take off his brace for the next game."

"He can't."

The giant looked at his oldest friend. "What do you mean?"

"Just that." Hiruma got up and grabbed his laptop from a shelf. He snapped the thing open and booted it up. "And unless I can find a way around the rules, he can't play at all." Two seconds later he was on the NFL website researching the uniform rules. He would not give up his linebacker to a technicality.

**You know, these chapters seem like they cover a lot of ground, but we haven't even gotten out of volume three yet. Darn it, I want to get to Taiyo and Agon already!**


	13. Recruitment

The team met later that day and Sena still looked kind of depressed. What was going on inside that spiky head? Ed nudged him with a flyer. "Still thinking about that guy from this morning," he whispered, keeping an eye on Hiruma.

"Yeah," Sena admitted. "I just wish I could have recruited him."

"Don't worry." Ed grinned, "Because I did."

Sena whipped his head around. "He's on the team!?"

"No, but he knows we want him." Ed shrugged. "I just got his attention. But he might give it some thought when the game airs tonight."

"Speaking of which," Kurita glanced at the clock. "It's almost time for the game."

Hiruma clicked the remote. "Let's watch it on the big screen." A projector and projection tarp descended from the ceiling. _How much did this remodeling cost? _Sena was afraid to even guess. They watched as the players were introduced, and the positions explained. "Deimon's ace is unclear. We have The runningback Eyeshield 21, whose incredible speed scored all three touchdowns against the White Knights. However," Ed popped up on the screen. "Number 30, an unknown player named Edward Elric, was able to successfully tackle Ojo's Linebacker number 40, a boy many call the strongest in the world of Japanese high school football." Ed smirked at the praise. "However, he was removed from the game for uniform infractions and might not be coming back to the sport. We'll have to wait and see, folks!" Well that sure took the wind out of his sails.

Ed cheered up again when Sena tackled Sakuraba on screen. "Not bad," he slapped Sena on the back.

"We have received this comment about the accident from Eyeshield 21," the announcer said.

The scene cut to just Eyeshield. It looked like later that day, or on a different day altogether. Then Eyeshield said, in a voice that sounded demonically familiar, "Did you see my 'homicide tackle'? Accident? No way! **It was deliberate!" **Sena almost keeled over. _I never said that! _Ed glared at a cackling Hiruma as the onscreen fake continued. "No mercy for anyone who gets in front of me! If you don't want to die, then stay outta my way! Ya-ha!"

Then Ed started laughing. "That'll shake up our next opponent!"

Hiruma glanced at the boy. "Darn right! In football, intimidation wins! You have to show no mercy to your opponent."

He expected Edward to agree with him, but the kid frowned. "I know some people who would agree with you. Most of them are dead now." For once, Hiruma was speechless.

The next day, Ed wandered through the halls towards the weight room. He usually used his English period to keep his strength up to par, since blocking and tackling practice didn't last that long for him. "So what do you think Eyeshield looks like?" Ed stopped walking and listened in. Just how much attention did the game last night generate? "I think he's a real body builder, like those wrestling guys from America. He did study there. And I'll bet he's got a gnarly scar." Sena, scarred and muscular? Ed wanted to laugh. Though to be fair, his legs were pretty chiseled.

"Naw, did you see how streamlined he was?" said a different male voice, probably the first boy's friend. "He probably even shaved his head to decrease the resistance so he could run faster." Ed thought about the dual spikes on top of the runningback's head. Uh uh.

"Maybe he's a girl!" Ed could no longer contain his laughter, and ran in the opposite direction of the group of boys so they wouldn't know he'd been listening in. That just took the cake! He only stopped running when he reached the roof.

"Well, which do you like better?" Oh great, he'd walked into another conversation, only this time, it was a bunch of girls! He wanted to hear this even less! He started retreating back towards the stairs. "Sakuraba or Elric?" He stopped dead in his tracks. They weren't seriously comparing him to that pretty boy, were they?

"I don't know," asked a different voice, this one slightly deeper. "When Edward-san took off his helmet…he really does have beautiful hair." He reached up and ran a hand through his bangs. Really? He'd never paid that much attention to it before, except to keep it in the braid and make sure his antennae stuck up as high as possible. "But he's so much shorter than Sakuraba, I can't decide." Ed suppressed the urge to pop out and hit the girl.

"I'll bet he's hiding a great body under those bulky pads," a different girl added. "Did you see the way he took down that other guy from Ojo, the one with the dark hair?"

"Now that you mention it," said girl number one, "Didn't he wear long sleeves during the whole game? Who knows what kind of arms he's hiding under there." The girls sighed. The alchemist very much wanted to transmute them into the rooftop pavement. If this is what Mustang and that pretty boy put up with, he didn't want it. He stomped back down the stairs, frightening the girls and shaking the whole staircase.

He stomped into the boy's bathroom and slicked his bangs back with water, even his antennae. The braid went inside his shirt collar. There was no way he was going to let anyone recognize him from the game if he could help it, especially not –he shivered- girls. He kept his cover through classes, at least the ones he actually went to, and headed home when he saw a group of boys blocking the hallway. Crowded around a poster, they were all chatting and slapping each other on the back. Ed glimpsed the top of the poster from the stiars over everyone's heads. It read "Baseball, First String."

_Wasn't that the sport monkey boy played? I still don't know what his name is. _Ed walked up to the crowd and poked one of the boys in the back. "Hey, you're on the baseball team right?"

"Yeah."

"Is there a guy with thick eyebrows who's good at catching on your team?"

"Oh yeah," the kid nodded. "Taro Raimon. Look's he's there below third string." He pointed at the poster. "Kind of a shame. Third string isn't really part of the team, more like a bunch of fans."

"That's awful," Sena said right next to him. Ed jumped a little. _When did he get there? _

Ed put his hands behind his head and started walking towards the school entrance. "Well, since he can't be on the baseball team, we'll just make him join ours."

Sena smiled and followed him.

**I cut a lot out of the Monta arc and replaced it with some fun for Ed. Thanks to all those who reviewed!**


	14. Around the Rules We Go

Edward marched right up to the clubhouse and kicked the door open. "Hey, pointy-eared freak!"

Hiruma rose to his full height and loomed over the shorter blond. "What was that?"

"Why're you so picky about receivers being tall?"

"Because it means they can cover more area. They don't need skill."

Edward put his hands on his hips. "So if they had skill but weren't tall, it wouldn't be a problem."

Hiruma stopped glowering. "What, you find someone?"

Ed grinned. "He caught the ball one-handed, from six feet in the air, jumping."

The devil grinned. "Shrimp!" Sena jumped. "Do you know who blondie's talking about?" Sena nodded. "Get him to join the team. Blondie!" Ed scowled. "Come with me." Hiruma grabbed Ed's arm and tried to pull him into the clubhouse. He didn't budge. "Guess I'm going to have to explain," he growled to himself. "I found a way for you to play," He said, loud enough for Ed to hear him.

Ed grinned. "Then let's go!" He shoved the older boy into the clubhouse.

Kurita looked in wonder at the closed door. "I guess I'll just go start handing the flyers out to tall people." And he wandered away.

Inside the clubroom, Hiruma pulled out a roll of thin plastic padding. "We'll make a covering out of this for your arm. They can't pull you out if it's covered enough not to hurt other players."

Ed looked at the roll of batting. "We'd better make one for my leg too."

"What?"

Hiruma watched as Ed reached down and pulled his pant leg up. Steel glinted in the electronic light and he felt his stomach drop a notch. Ed flicked the exposed metal, making a muffled 'ting'. "We'll have to cover this too. Looks like you have enough." He pulled the pant leg back down. "So are we sewing the stuff to something, or just making a sort of sleeve out of…Hiruma, are you okay?"

Hiruma didn't look okay. He looked like he was going to be sick. "What happened to you?"

Ed shrugged. "I gave them up for something greater. We should get started."

Hiruma snapped back to the task. "Right. Take you clothes off, we need to get good measurements." Ed walked over to the door. "You're not getting out of this, blondie!"

"I'm locking it shut!" Ed growled at the other boy. "I don't want anyone else to see me like this. It's bad enough that you know!" then he glared at the quarterback. "If you tell anyone…"

Hiruma cackled as he took out his threat book to fill in the new entry. "You'll what?"

Ed grinned at him with narrowed eyes. "Well, you sure want me on your team. What happens when people find out? A double amputee playing football, no, he'll get hurt." He chuckled. "I'd be out of the sport before you could blink."

Hiruma put away his threat book.

Ed took off his shoes. Hiruma's stomach dropped another notch as Ed removed his jacket and was left with only his tank top. The arm went all the way to his shoulder? It plummeted again when he removed his pants. He'd seen veterans before, living near a base like he had, but this was…

He shook himself out of it and grabbed a measuring tape from beneath the counter in the change booth at the back. He uncoiled the first few feet and held it up to the boy's arm. Suddenly, he was holding nothing.

"I can do it myself," Ed growled at him, measuring the shin of his left leg. "You can stop staring and write down the measurements. Hiruma shook himself, again. Darn, the kid had him off balance. A pad of paper and a pencil were retrieved from the back as well and Hiruma wrote down measurements as Ed finished.

He finished and took the pad and roll of material to the door. "I'll give these to the sewing club tonight. They'll be finished by tomorrow."

"What will you tell them," asked Ed. If someone started asking questions, he was done for.

Hiruma cackled, finally back in familiar territory. "They don't need to know." Ed smiled.

* * *

Sena finally found Taro down by the river. Once he caught sight of the boy's spiky hair, he skidded to a stop. Coughing on the dust he kicked up, Sena walked down to where the other boy was sitting next to a pile of snacks. _That's right, _he thought. _He wanted to celebrate with me about making first string, and for the football team winning their first game. _"You're pretty fast," Taro said. "Do you play in the games too?"

"No, not really," Sena replied, rubbing the back of his head in slight embarrassment.

"Huh, an athlete," he muttered to himself. "I can't even call myself an athlete anymore. See this glove?" Sena looked over. Taro did have a baseball catching glove on his hand. He nodded. "It was actually used by the pro ball player, Honjo." And he told Sena the story of how he found his idol, his goal. "I've been practicing ever since then, betting my life on my catching. But now…I have to deal with my first failure in life." He sniffed and Sena looked away. No one liked someone to see them cry. "I realized that it happens to everyone at some point." His arms came up around his face as he tried to hide the water trickling down his cheeks. He was amazed his voice was still reasonably steady. "I have to face that I'm never going to be a pro baseball player."

Then he swiped his sleeve over his face and got up off the grass. "Aww, this conversation is getting to be a drag. I'm going home." He gestured at the pile of snacks next to him. "Go ahead and eat whatever you want." He turned around and walked back up to the bridge.

"What about my team?" Sena shouted, racing after him. "We're looking for a player who can catch!" _That's right, _though Taro. _I remember, on that poster. No, No! Baseball, I love baseball!_

"You mean, since baseball didn't work, how about football?" he said over his shoulder. I can't run away like that."

"_It wouldn't be running away!" _Sena shouted at the other boy. Taro turned around. "At first, it was the same for me." He looked up and smiled at the other boy. "I really wanted to be a great manager, but I don't seem to be cut out for it. So instead, I've been trying to play the game a little myself." And it had been exhilarating. "It's totally different than what I had hoped but…now I'm having more fun." He shouted at the boy's turned back, "This could happen for you too!"

The words from that poster floated through Taro's mind. _Especially looking for players who can catch, no other skills required. _Maybe he could…No! "Thanks a lot…it's silly, but I can't turn back."

Sena called out again, "Wait!"

"No, it's your…"

He looked down and saw a massive rip in the legs of his pants. What was that from? Sena looked back at where they'd been sitting. One of the bottles had broken and a glass shard had a piece of black fabric on it. Sena scurried forward and grabbed Taro's arm. "We have to get you back to school, you might be hurt." Taro looked back at where they'd been sitting and nodded frantically. They headed back to the school together.

**Hiruma found the way around the rules and Monta's just about ready to join the team. I did have to change up a few things, but I felt like it worked. What do you guys think of the way I'm setting up the relationship between Hiruma and Edward?**


	15. Measuring Monta

Kurita walked back to the clubhouse with a slightly shorter stack of flyers. He'd found a few tall people, but they either hadn't been interested, or already played a sport. Someone bumped into him, spilling the leftover flyers all over the place. "Oh, I'm so sorry," Mamori squeaked. "I should have watched where I was sweeping." She'd thought to clean up the area in front of the clubhouse, to make it more presentable for any new recruits.

They'd just finished picking up the flyers when someone said "We have a first aid kit in the clubroom." The two second-years looked up and saw Sena and another boy walking toward them, the one gripping his leg. Hiruma walked up from the opposite direction and saw the boys as Kurita greeted them.

The door to the clubhouse opened and Ed stuck his head out. "Hiruma, are you-" Wait. Sena and that catcher were walking up. Hiruma was standing right there. This was too perfect.

Ed grabbed one of the balls from the basket inside the clubroom and threw it straight at Taro. Hiruma watched and the monkey boy caught the pass an inch from his face with the one hand that wasn't wrapped around his leg. Oh, this was perfect! And that hadn't even been all that good of a throw! The demonic boy leveled a long-fingered point at the pair of pipsqueaks. "Shrimp!" Sena snapped to attention. "What's the monkey's name?"

"M-montaro Rai." He stuttered out.

"No, it's-"

"You're joining the football team." Hiruma cut him off before he could finish.

"No, I-"

The broom Mamori was holding slapped the pavement. "Stop bullying him! If he doesn't want to join, he doesn't have to!"

"Mamori, why wouldn't he switch?" Ed leaned against the doorframe. "The baseball team doesn't appreciate him. We need him. Not rocket science."

"He still shouldn't be forced against his will." She turned back to the poor boy now trembling under Hiruma's you-will-do-as-I-say glare. "Oh, you're hurt." She walked over and tore his hand away from his leg. "Come inside, we'll get that treated."

He pushed her hands away. "I'm fine! I cut myself earlier, I'm not one to put the blame on someone else."

"It doesn't matter who's to blame," she smiled. "I'll fix it up for you anyway, don't be so stubborn."

_And he's gone, _thought Ed as he watched the color in Monta's face rise. _But…_He looked over at Hiruma, who was eyeing the pair. Looks like they both had the same idea. He asked Hiruma as the boy walked past him into the clubhouse, "You want to handle him?" The other boy grinned.

The next day, Monta showed up for practice in a brand new jersey.

Of course, the first thing Hiruma did was get his stats. 40 yard dash was up first. "Blondie!" He threw Ed the stopwatch. "Time the monkey!" Ed gave a jaunty salute and got into position at the 40 yard mark. The gun went off and Monta charged forward. Ed clicked the watch as the boy-followed-by-dust-cloud past him. He shouted at Hiruma and threw him the watch. "5.0 seconds. Completely average." He shrugged. "Guess I can't get Shrimps and Blondies all the time."

They did some ladder drills and running laps after that. Once their legs had cooled down, Kurita herded them all into the weight room. Monta rolled up his sleeves. "Alright, I'm gonna lift to the max!" He loaded up a bar with 40 kilos and lifted it with a grunt. He set it back in the holders and grinned at Sena. "Pretty good, right?"

Ed shrugged. "Considering he's the weakest member on the team, he would think so."

Monta blew smoke out of his nose. "Oh yeah, who's the strongest?" Ed pointed at Kurita. "Then who's the second strongest?" The blond pointed at himself. Monta laughed. "Ha, you're not much taller than me! I doubt you can lift 60 kilos."

Ed opened his mouth for a rant, but thought better of it. Instead, he grabbed a load of weights and fastened them on to a waiting bar. He watched with satisfaction as Monta's eyes got bigger every time he added another weight. Then he got up underneath it and lifted the whole thing. He put the bar back in the holders and got up from the bench. "How's that for a shrimp?"

Monta didn't answer. He just added another weight to his bar and tried to lift it, but sadly couldn't get it even an inch out of the brakets. "Relax," Ed admonished. "You're a receiver, you don't have to be strong, just good at catching. And you are that."

The catcher sat upright on the bench again. "What position do you play?"

Ed shrugged. "Hiruma never told me my exact position. I guess I'm a combination of things. I run like a runningback and block like a lineman."

"You're a linebacker." The alchemist looked over to where Hiruma was working on curls. "They're basically the last line of defense before the end zone. They catch whatever the line and other defensive players let through."

"Shin's a linebacker, isn't he?" asked Edward.

"Yep." Hiruma put the weights down. "So you'll be going up against him again." Ed grinned. "Neck drills next!" Ed groaned. He hated neck drills.

Wait, if Sena was going to help Monta, and Kurita was too strong for this sort of thing, then…oh great. Hiruma was his partner for the first part. Ed got into position and Hiruma grabbed his head. "You know," he commented as he began to press down, "most football players wear their hair short."

"Says the guy with hair that sticks straight up. Push harder," Ed snapped back. Hiruma stopped talking and just pressed down. They switched places after a minute before going on to the other exercises. They finished with that set of drills too and headed back to the clubhouse to get out of their uniforms. Suddenly, screams filled the air. _What's going on, _wondered Ed as he looked in the direction of the ruckus. Ceberes came flying towards Hiruma with a newspaper in his mouth two seconds later. _Oh, just the dog. _

Hiruma tossed the hellhound a bone and snapped open the paper. A quick scan, and he threw it on the ground. "I don't believe this!"

**Before you jump down my throat for the late update, know that I woke up 30 minutes before I had to leave for work! And personally, I don't think Monta and Ed would get along, At All. Please Review!**


	16. Infuriation Tactics

Ed walked over and picked up the discarded paper. "Come on, it's just a petty thief."

Sena took a look at the page. "Hey, that's where we run during practice! You think it's those guys from Zokugaku? Isn't their school supposed to be full of punks and thugs?"

Hiruma hit both of them in the back of the head. "Not that page! Read the sports section!" Ed flipped to the sports page. Ojo Pulls Ahead was the headline, with Ojo vs. Sankaku 7-6 right under it.

"Wow, that's pretty close." Ed folded the paper back up. "Winning by one point, like that. Kinda dwarfs our three touchdowns. Still," he shrugged, "We got more than that other high school. They only got one."

"Yeah, but now it's not as impressive. There goes our publicity," Hiruma grumbled.

Mamori nodded. "The flyers and posters are great, but what if we played a game in our own schoolyard?"

The quarterback whipped out his laptop and cell. "Alright, it's set. A game this weekend." Hiruma sent the two pipsqueaks on their run with a wad of cash and orders to grab equipment, and took Ed back to the clubroom while Kurita kept pumping iron and Mamori stayed to keep an eye on him. "The sewing club gave back your padding. You'll play in the next game."

Ed took off his under armor shirt and slid the sleeve of padding over his automail. "Who'd you set us up with, anyway? I'll bet it's Zokugaku."

"What gave you that idea, blondie?"

"Oh, just the fact that they'd already been beaten out of the tournament, they're close at hand, they have a wild reputation which will boost ours if we beat them, and they've got that one kid Rui. He'll be a challenge for me and Sena." He looked sideways at the quarterback. "That, and the fact you just sent Monta and Sena out to where they'd been stealing with a whole envelope of money. Very enticing target."

Hiruma grinned. The kid was good. "Their coach and captain will show up in a few minutes." He grabbed Sena's eyeshield and snapped it into his own helmet.

"Intimidation tactics?" Ed pointed at the modified helmet.

"Nope, infuriation tactics." He slipped on a number 21 jersey and snapped on the helmet. "And you're gonna help." He threw Ed's jersey at the smallish teen.

When Rui came into the Devil Bat clubroom with his coach, his eyes instantly narrowed. Eyeshield grinned at him from where he was sitting at the head of the table, feet propped up and leaning back. He sat down at one of the chairs with his coach next to him. "So you guys want a football game with us. Why? So you can brag that you lost to a good team?"

"That wouldn't be true, even if you were a good team," someone said. Rui whipped around. Number 30 was leaning against the wall next to the door, so the long-armed linebacker hadn't seen him before.

Rui jumped out of his seat and grabbed the guy by the collar. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Ed grabbed the hand gripping his jersey with his right hand, put his left behind the boy's shoulder, and had him in an arm lock before anyone could move. "Exactly what it sounds like." Rui struggled, trying to lever his long arms out of the grip, but the iron embrace stayed firm. He stopped struggling. Edward released the boy and went back to leaning up against the wall. "Now you should sit back down." Rui glared at the other boy, but he remained unaffected. Ed dealt with Hiruma on a daily basis now. A little glare wasn't going to scare him, especially from someone with so little skill to back it up.

Rui sat back down and Hiruma decided to unleash his attack, not knowing about the two boys who now watched from the slightly open door. "We're gonna rid the earth of all you scum." _Ack! What does he think he's doing!_ Sena did not want to see where this led, especially since it was his identity being messed with.

Rui jumped out of his chair again, but he'd apparently learned his lesson from Ed because he didn't outright attack Hiruma. "I'm gonna kill you!"

The quarterback also got up and pointed a finger at the enraged punk. "Oh you think you're going to win? Want to bet 5,000,000 yen on it?"

"Yeah, why not?!" Rui shouted. "You're just a raggedy bunch that lost to Ojo. I'm the strongest linebacker there is. Shin, he's nothing."

"Really?" Ed got up from where he'd been leaning against the wall. "Because I took down Shin. I wonder how easy you'll be to beat."

Rui just laughed. "You only took him down one time, pipsqueak."

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT HE COULDN'T OVERPOWER A HYROGEN MOLECULE IF THEY BLOCKED HIM WITH JUST THEIR PINKY FINGER?!"

Rui just scowled. "I don't have to listen to your whining. I'm outa here. See you when we crush you."

Edward chased the boy to the doorway but stopped when the punkish high school student bumped into Sena on his way out. He was halfway to the stairs when the runningback flashed in front of him. "Shin is the strongest," Sena stated. "The Devil Bats will meet him at the finals."

"What?" the other boy screamed in his face.

"And we won't lose against anyone else!"

The alchemist grinned from the doorway to the clubhouse at the sight of the short pipsqueak talking trash with a certified punk. Either the kid had been hit one too many times during practice, or he was growing a spine.

Rui reached out. Sena backed up a few steps, confident the boy couldn't reach him. Then the hand clamped down on his spikey hair. _This guy's arms are so long! _

"Did you say something?" Rui got right in the smaller boy's face. "Wanna say it again?" Then Mamori butted in between the two players, knocking Rui's hand off of Sena. But the punk just smirked. "Ha. You have a girl protect you. 'we can't lose', you said?" Ed glowered at the boy. _Yep, just keep on talking. You're only digging your own grave._ "Looks to me like you're a cowardly little pipsqueak who can't do much of anything."

Ed had to admit, with the way he was hunched over almost behind Mamori, Sena fit the part of cowardly pipsqueak pretty well. Then he started coming out of his protective curl. "It's true I'm just a weakling, but I'm not the one who's going to do it." Okay, what was the kid going on about now?

Rui laughed. "So you're going to leave it to someone else? So who is it?"

The boy stepped in front of Mamori and looked the punk straight in the face. "Eyeshield 21!"

**I loved having Ed be a part of Hiruma's 'infuriation tactics'. You wouldn't believe how long I had to look for that Arm Lock description. Please review!**


	17. Rice Man Mortality

"The Zokugaku Chameleons have suddenly become a team to contend with." The team had gathered in the clubhouse to discuss their next opponent and Mamori was reading out their details from one of the more popular football magazines. "His distinguishing feature is his incredibly long arms. His reach extends to catch anything that moves." Sena flinched at the image that conjured up. Chameleons was a perfect name for their team. "Not even Seijuro Shin can match Habashira in this ability."

"Yeah, and then they go and waste it," Ed mumbled from one of the chairs around the table.

"What do you mean," Sena asked.

Ed put his hands behind his head. "They beat up a ref at their second game and got kicked out of the tournament. Now they're waiting for the fall season, just like us. Although," he leaned forward, "more people have noticed their team because their school has such a big reputation, especially Rui. He cost them the tournament just because he didn't like the ref's call."

"Yeah, and they say he always carries a butterfly knife around," Monta added.

Ed laughed. "If that was all it took to get noticed, everyone would know about the Devil Bats by now."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Monta shouted. Ed pointed at the demon leaving the clubhouse with an AK-47. "Oh. Right."

The six of them walked down to the storeroom and started unpacking the practice equipment. Sena stuttered out, "Can we really beat such a scary team?"

"Would I have bet five million yen if we couldn't win?" Hiruma answered.

"Well after that announcement he made this morning, we'd better," Ed whispered to Sena. He nodded. And he was the one who was probably going to have to pull that off, with help, but still. That was a lot of pressure for just him.

"This time Eyeshield will be the decoy." He looked back at his startled teammates. So Sena was not going to be the one their victory hinged on? "He'll get them worked up, and they'll try to stop his run. But now we've got," He gripped one of the balls in the basket and shot it off towards Monta. "A passing game!" the box Monta had been holding crashed to the ground as the boy caught the ball with both hands.

"Finally, we can pass!" Kurita hugged Edward in his excitement. "It's like we're a real football team!" He grabbed a piece of baseboard. "Should I put 'the rice man' out?"

"No, we don't need him anymore, do we?" Ed thought he saw a hint of a curve on the other boy's lips.

"The rice man?" the two pipsqueaks and Mamori asked.

Kurita set up the baseboard and Ed saw that it was painted with a figure of a person with a large sack attached between its hands. "Oh, him. We made it when it was just the two of us. Hiruma didn't have anyone to practice passing to, since I can't catch very well, so he practiced by aiming for the hole and throwing the ball into the bag."

Hiruma grabbed the baseboard and hung it on the goal posts at the end of the field. "Now that we have a real receiver, we don't need rice man anymore." He grinned until all his fangs showed. "It's time for him to meet his end." And he shot him full of holes with his biggest machine gun.

"There's no doubt that Hiruma's very happy you joined the team, Monta." He gestured towards the spikey-haired blond. "Hiruma wants to throw the ball, you know. He practices all the time, and he's actually quite good. Until now, he's never had a chance to make use of his skill."

"He could've tried it with me," Edward muttered, but Kurita heard him.

"He knows you're best as a runner and a shield. Training you to catch would waste what you can already , for the first time, we've got a real receiver, not someone filling in for the role." Monta pointed at himself and Sena nodded. The catcher grinned. It was kind of nice to be needed like that. Then the big boy charged toward "the rice man" with a cry of "Funurghba!" and nearly broke the thing in half crossways.

_They were just like I was, _Ed thought. _They wanted to be a part of something bigger, but couldn't find anyone to join them. _Just like he'd been when he first got here, before he met Hiromu and joined the team. Ed stepped in front of 'The Rice Man', jumped until he was level with the top, and brought his left leg down on the top of the structure. It almost split in half, length wise, and a corner fell off the bottom where both massive cracks intersected. Ed walked back to the others, not noticing Sena's, Mamori's, and even Monta's gob-smacked expressions.

Sena closed his mouth and shook himself. "Mamori's going to be angry," he mumbled to his fellow pipsqueak, "so later, we'd better be sure to apologize to her." Monta's whole face grinned. They picked up one of Hiruma's bazooka launchers and fired right at the battered baseboard, finally snapping the whole thing along the massive cracks the two defensive players had put in it.

The manager shouted at Sena, "I can't believe you!" Then she saw Hiruma's no quite so terrifying grin, Kurita's happy tears, Ed's confident smirk, even Sena's enormous smile. Then she picked up a flame thrower and dealt the final blow. Of course, they spent the next three hours trying to put out the fire with a bucket brigade while students, attracted by the smoke, shouted encouragement at them, but it was absolutely worth it.

Their next practice, Ed and the others did ladder drills and practiced heavy combat, especially Edward and Kurita. He sniggered when he saw what position Hiruma made Sena put his hand in. More infuriation tactics. And he was right when, the following day, he saw the huge poster hung up in front of the school. This wasn't just about new recruits anymore, this was about reputation.

**I loved letting Edward go nuts on the Rice Man, I've been waiting for that for a long time now.**

**Question: Do you remember how some of the characters get major hair adjustments later in Eyeshield? Should I give Edward one too? Please review and give me your opinion!**


	18. Battle Begins!

Well, the poster worked. The crowd by the football field after school the day of the game was fantastic! Of course, no fans are without the opposition. Sena ducked as one of the Chameleon fans threw a coke can at him. "Let's see your murder tackle now! Die!" Then Monta sent the punks reeling as he snatched the thing right out of the air. Of course, Hiruma got him for revealing himself too soon, but Edward thought it was worth it to shake those punks up. Intimidation tactics and all.

He played with the edge of his foam sleeve as Hiruma tried to pull three guys out of the crowd as backup. _Even if he does, _thought the blond, _they won't do much good. It's better to just protct the players that we have._ But when Kurita came back with three completely outfitted linemen, Sena stared at them. "What's up?" Ed asked the shorter boy.

"Those guys used to bully me!" He pointed at the three newest players. When they all huddled up, only one thing was going through Ed's mind. _We won't fall to anyone but Ojo! _Even if it was Sena who made the promise, he intended to keep it.

"We're gonna kill them!"

"We're gonna crush them!" The two battle cries rang out and the crowds went wild as the two teams walked onto the field. Ed grinned. This was the first time they played on their own turf, with their own fans. _Take that, Sakuraba! _

The Chameleons got the first kick, and once Ed saw what kind of kick they executed, he wished they didn't. The ball was going all over the place, none of the relief players or the regular team could catch it!

Then Monta leapt and snatched it right out of the air. Oh yeah, he was playing for the first time. Sena ran towards him and Monta threw the ball which…

Went in the opposite direction, hit some kid in the head, and brought Hiruma's fury down on the catcher. Monta snapped his neck back into place after the quarterback's forceful 'lesson' had adjusted it. "Oh no…humiliated on my first play."

Ed leaned down and lifted the kid up by his arm. "Actually, the fact that it's your first play makes it okay. Besides, throwing isn't your job anyway."

"That was a great catch!" Both boys looked at the shouting Mamori on the sidelines. "You can do it!" the monkey's cheeks went a suspicious shade of pink. Ed rolled his eyes. _Thank goodness Alphonse was never interested in girls. I don't think I'd have been able to take it. _While Mamori handed out flyers to first-time watchers, the Devil Bats got ready for the first real play of the game, with them on the offence.

Hiruma looked at Rui's defensive formation and cackled to himself. "When they set up like this, they're clearly defending against a run." _Which would have been a problem before, but now? _He looked over at Monta and down at his own long fingers. _I can finally show 'em everything I've got! _"Hut!" The ball flew back to the quarterback.

The other team stood still, watching Eyeshield 21 closely. The minute he started to run, they'd stick him with a tackle. Then the ball flew right past their heads like a bullet out of one of Hiruma's many weapons. Rui told himself that there would be no one to catch it, especially since it was going so fast. He turned around to chase after the ball when the pass was incomplete.

What he saw was Monta catching the ball and running up the field with it. "Nobody's on him! Get over there," he ordered to his teammates, but by the time they reached the receiver, he'd covered 35 yards and Deimon had a huge advantage.

The crowd roared! "What just happened?" "Awesome!" "That was a great catch!" Monta glowed with the praise.

The other team wasn't doing so well. Someone had suggested backing up, to better protect against the Hiruma-Monta combo. Rui howled, "What are you, stupid!? If we drop back, then Eyeshield will be able to run on us! Next time," he glowered at the Bats, "Eyeshield will run for sure…and we'll crush him!"

"This feels pretty good! The blood's rushing to my head!" _Those infuriation tactics worked perfectly, _the demon thought when he saw how tightly they were set up for their next defensive play. Not a single person in back to guard against passes. It was all too easy to fake a pass off to Sena and send the ball flying again, right to Monta, so high up the field that there wasn't a chance of stopping him before he reached the end zone. He watched chaos erupt amongst the Chameleons as the monkey scored the touchdown in only two downs.

In the end zone, Monta beamed in the praise of the Deimon students again. He was fulfilling his promise to Honjo, and boy did it feel good. He struck his victory pose and bathed in the cheering, even if they did get his name wrong. Darn Hiruma and his flyers!

Sena ran up and high fived his fellow pipsqueak, right before Kurita picked him up by the hands and whipped him around. Monta just started to get over his dizziness when Hiruma sent a jolt up his spine and walked away. Sena remembered the one time the quarterback had done that to him. "I just realized."

"What?" Monta asked.

"When he kicks you without saying anything, it's his version of praise."

"Yeah, but I think mine's more fun." Ed yanked off Monta's unclipped helmet, got him in a headlock, and gave him a first class nuggie. The receiver pulled away quickly and set his hair to rights with a shake of his head, but couldn't stop smiling. His team was sure weird.

Hiruma tried for the one-point conversion next, and hit the same poor sap that got hit last time he tried a kick. What was that guy even doing here?

Still, they were winning if not by a lot.

**You might have noticed that, even though this is Monta's big game, I don't have much of his thoughts in it. That's because while I do think he's a fun character, he's not nearly as complex as some of the others, who are just way more fun to write. If you want Monta, go read the series of a fanfiction about only him. Who likes Ed's version of praise? I can totally see him doing that.**

**On the hair subject, if I changed Ed's hair, I'd probably take off his antennae. What do you think?**

**Please review!**


	19. ObstaclesNOT

They lost their lead within the next play. And to pile insult on injury, the Chameleons' kick went in! "If only Musashi were here," Kurita sighed.

"We'll just have to make more touchdowns!" Hiruma huddled them up for the next play. When they got out of their huddle, Edward and Hiruma had frighteningly similar looks.

Rui gathered his own players around him. "All right! Defense, we're changing our position. Only the monkey boy, number 80, can catch passes. So we'll cover the left zone with three guys. The rest will go after Eyeshield." He crushed the paper cup in his hand. "This way we'll stop them completely."

The play started and both Sena and Monta took off to their respective sides. The runningback ran up to Hiruma to get the ball and took off for the left. Rui rammed his way into the struggle on the left, trying to get at Eyeshield. _No one makes a fool out of me! _He was so pumped up that he didn't notice how Kurita was flattening his middle line, opening a gap. By the time the punk noticed Sena didn't have the ball, Hiruma had handed it to Deimon's second runningback.

"It's Elric!" one of the Zokugaku linemen shouted. "He's breaking through the middle!"

Rui swiveled on his feet and leapt toward the blond player. If Edward had been at full speed, the other quarterback wouldn't have had a chance. But Ed's running wasn't as explosive as Sena's it took a few yards to build up to maximum speed. So when Rui reached out, he caught the former alchemist by the ankles, but only after he earned his team 20 yards towards the end zone.

"You did it!" Kurita ran onto the field and tried to hug Ed before he dodged out of the way.

He took off his helmet and shook out his braid. "It only worked because they couldn't see me behind Hiruma."

"Ke Ke. Did you just call yourself short?"

Ed whirled on the taller blond. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT RUI WOULD NEED TWEEZERS TO TACKLE HIM?!"

"You."

Kurita had to grab Ed before he pummeled the quarterback. "Calm down! We're still in the game, we need Hiruma to play!" Ed ceased trying to strangle his captain, but still glared.

The next couple plays made Ed almost laugh. Rui was so focused on stopping Eyeshield that every time there was even a slim chance that the youth had the ball, he chased after him. And Hiruma really enjoyed taking advantage of that, letting Monta catch until they landed a touchdown, giving it to Ed to run it a dozen or so yards, and even taking it up the field himself. And the Chameleons got fooled every single time!

Finally, it reached the second quarter, with the points at 20 for the Devil Bats, 14 for the Chameleons. Rui decided it was time for more…forceful measures. The ball didn't even leave Hiruma's hands before more than half their line crumbled, victims of chopped necks, punched guts, and…wow, they'd really wanted to hurt them. No guy wanted to be kneed there. Only the special neck training had saved Sena.

_This is why we need a real team, _growled the quarterback as he grabbed the three guys Kurita had brought down from the clubhouse earlier. "You're in. You three Hah brothers."

He ignored their shouts of "We're not brothers!"

The quarterback pulled Ed aside. "Back them up. They're amateurs, but we need the numbers."

"You sure? It's getting rough, Sena might need me."

"Sena faced Shin. He'll be fine." Edward had to admit he was right about that. He took up his position behind the three new linemen.

The Hah brothers got into line next to Kurita and opposite the Zokugaku punks. Togano's mark went for another gut punch and another neck chop was aimed at Jumonji. Kuroki's opponent tried to poke his eyes out.

Thing is, punks should never try to get one over on other punks.

One caught fist, dodge, and counterpunch later the Hah brothers broke through the enemy line and gave Sena a straight shot right through the center.

But Rui was waiting for him. "At last here you are!" He raced towards the smaller boy. "I'm gonna break every bone in your body! I'm gonna grind you into a pulp, and then I'm going after that number 30 of yours!" The anger flushed his face and made his eyes widen until they were almost circular, staring right at the incoming runningback.

Sena screeched to a halt. _That's not just a game face! He really wants to hurt me!_ _Where's Edward when I need him? _"Two strong legs and all you do is run away?" The words from the Ojo game circled in his head. No! He'd faced down Shin and he'd promised to meet him again! "I'll be waiting for you at the finals."Rui? Shin? They were completely different. It was a world of difference!

And he rocketed right into another six points for the Devil Bats.

The whole crowd roared to life. That had been amazing! Chatter broke out amongst the fans, about how much cooler Eyeshield's running was in person, how everything had happened so fast, how watching him live looked totally different.

Ed didn't feel like cheering. He'd heard what Rui had said, and it was getting him more furious than a reference to his height. "Hey, Pointy Ears." Hiruma prepared to yell at the youth. "I want to go up against him next." Then he walked across the field and got right in front of Rui's face. "I think your bluffing."

"Huh?" asked the other player.

"Shin could stop Sena with one arm. You haven't caught him once, so I don't think you're better than Shin. You're worse. But let's see how you measure up to someone just as good."

"And who's that? Your big fatty?" Rui laughed at his own joke.

"No," Ed drawled. "Me."

That sentence just made the Chameleon laugh harder. "I could crush you with one foot!"

Ed grinned. "Then on the next play, put your money where your mouth is." He walked back to the Deimon side of the field.

He grinned at a suspicious Hiruma and the devil returned the gesture. Everyone huddled up. "Okay. Since Blondie went and painted a huge target on himself, this is what we're going to do."

**I need a name for Ed's tackle. Any suggestions? Please Review!**

**Oh, and I might have to switch updates to every other day. RL is really heating up for me!**


	20. Death to Reptiles

The Devil Bats lined up again, Kurita in the middle, Hah brothers on either side of him. Hiruma, Edward, and Sena lined up behind the big boy in that order. Rui looked at them with contempt. _Hiruma's going to fake the hand-off again and make Eyeshield run while he passes. Good thing I've got three guys in the monkey's way. I can cover the middle by myself._ Kurita threw the ball back to the devilish blond and both runningbacks charged up the field. Rui watched the middle for any gap, and grinned manically when he saw Kurita forcing open the center. _Here comes Eyeshield._

Nope, what did come was a tackle from a certain blond that knocked Rui flat on his back so he could watch in horror and rage and Sena jumped right over both of them. One of the players from the left where he'd sent them to guard against the receiver tackled him about 30 yards down the field, but the damage had been done.

In the next huddle, he shouted at his teammates, "forget protection. Just sack the quarterback!" On the next play, two of the punks blew right through the section of Deimon's line constructed by the Hah brothers and sacked Hiruma. The biggest lineman had to grab him before he pounced. "Those three stupid brothers! The minute I put Blondie somewhere else-"

"They're brand new," Kurita placated, or at least tried to.

It seemed to work, at least a little. Hiruma stopped flailing his arms and called the three brothers over. "I can't keep Blondie behind you. If you're going to let them through, hurry up and let them in!" Ed suddenly wondered if the sack had addled his brains. But when they got out of the huddle with the plan fresh in his mind, he grinned. He would've loved to see Mustang and Hiruma in a battle of wits.

"Hut!" the ball went between Hiruma's legs again and Hiruma caught it. Sena ran up past him, but this time Rui kept his eyes on the ball.

It stayed in the quarterback's hands. "He's going to pass to monkey boy! Get him before he throws it!" He shouted to the linemen to the right.

They pushed up against the two beginning blockers. "You guys are the holes in your line!" They shouted at the players.

In response, the boys turned to the side and opened up the gaps even wider. "Holes? Go right ahead." But just before the two opposing players could reach the quarterback, he tossed the ball right into Eyeshield's waiting arms.

This was the genius of Hiruma's play. The holes and faked passing intentions drew off half of Rui's remaining line, giving Sena just the opening he needed. But Rui would be waiting for him. Long arms stretched out and the smallest Devil Bat saw a dozen different paths. Should he veer right, left, go wide, stick in close, cut just a little to the side? He could run so far to the side that the other player couldn't catch him, but he'd risk getting tackled by someone else. And he knew if he went straight, Edward would…

Rui got ready for the most devastating tackle yet. All he had to do was break a few ribs on this kid and all that bravado would be for nothing. Then he felt something whoosh past under his arm.

Sena had taken the path right under Rui's armpit. The boy spun around and tried to grab the still-sprinting figure, But someone behind him yelled, "Oh no you don't!" An arm snaked around his chest and sent pain lacing through his nervous system all the way up to his brain and Edward's metal fingers made contact with his ribcage. Rui dropped like a rock under Edward's new and improved Trident tackle.

"Touchdown!" Yells from the Deimon fans filled the air as Sena once again put six more points on the board. The whistle signaling the end of the game blew and the score definitely settled matters. Deimon, 48, Zokugaku, 26. _Well, at least they were a challenge, _Ed thought as he watched Rui blow his top yet again once he saw the scoreboard. Ed laughed and joined the team as they threw first Sena, then Monta into the air.

"You too, Edward." Kurita grabbed the back of his shirt and tossed him skyward.

"Whaaaaaaat!? Get me down!" But apparently Sena and Monta wanted to get revenge for his attempts to throw them sky high, and kept egging on the other players. When they finally set him down, Edward glared at all of them. The two pipsqueaks just laughed.

Then Hiruma loaded up his numerous guns and walked over to the Chameleon side of the field. "Hey you guys!" He stuck out a hand. "The five million!"

Rui looked up from where he'd collapsed after his face overheated from rage. "What?" He snapped open his butterfly knife. It didn't seem so impressive when Hiruma whipped out his numerous weapons of mass destruction. "We can't…We can't really pay you that much, you idiot!"

"Hey, Hiruma," Ed called from where he stood suspiciously close to the enemy players' motor bikes. "We could sell these bikes!" He whacked one with his right fist and the metallic sound made all the Chameleon players flinch. "If we broke them down all the way to the smallest parts, we'd get ten times the cash that we would if we sold them as whole bikes!" He flicked one of the hand grips. "Look at the custom jobs on these babies!"

Hiruma looked back at the team and sniggered at their submissive posture. Blondie knew how to hit where it hurt. They'd started the begging already. "Please leave our bikes alone," they begged through gritted teeth.

This was just too perfect. "Well then, you'll be my slaves in the meantime." He cackled at the thought, and the best part was that they all knew how to play the game. He couldn't have asked for better practice dummies, especially since their school was so conveniently close to Deimon. Which was, of course, one of the factors he picked them for.

Kurita turned a blind eye to his friend's devilish behavior and reveled in the cheers and loud conversations of the crowd. With a game like this to show off the sport, he had high hopes for recruitment the next day!

**Ed's beginning his reign of terror as a devil himself. I loved writing his tag team threat with Hiruma. This is the unofficial debut of Ed's tackle, the Devil Bat Claws, in the only play I wrote from start to finish without taking anything from the book. What do you think?**

**As I was writing this, I almost decided to replace the blond they find in America with Ed, but then I remembered that that guy was great with passes, not running. So the Devil Bats get two tight ends.**

**Please Review!**


	21. More Weirdos for the Team

The minute Edward stepped out of the locker room, Hiromu latched onto him. "That was amazing!"

The blond pushed the manga artist away from him." What are you doing?"

"Congratulating you, of course!" Hiromu relinquished his hold and bounced on the balls of his feet. "I gotta say, that was a really great win! You had almost double their score, and I loved all the tackling you did on that one player, Rui, I think. Oh, you have given me so many new ideas-"

Ed clamped a hand over the rambling mouth. "Let's go back to my apartment for this, shall we?" Hiromu nodded. The Elric shouldered his sports bag and let Hiromu trail after him towards his apartment. "You know, you shouldn't talk about the series around my friends. They might get ideas." _Especially Hiruma, although one of the Hah brothers might find out something, the kid was always reading manga._

"But why?"

Ed wanted to facepalm. Were all manga artists this clueless? "What do you think would happen if people realized the protagonist in that series was real? That the whole thing was real?"

"Well, I imagine the fans would be very excited!"

"What about the world governments?"

Hiromu's eyes narrowed, then widened in horror as his face went pale. "You're right. We should definitely keep this under wraps. Speaking of which," he gestured towards Ed's arm, "how are you playing with that?"

Darn it, he'd just told the man no one could find out about him. "Hiruma had some protective foam sleeves made for me. Let's get back to my home." And before the man could say anything else, he pushed him in the direction of the school's exit.

The next day, Edward showed up to school early to help spruce up the clubhouse for the recruitment meeting. While Kurita commandeered Sena and Monta to pick up some cake, he and Mamori scrubbed the place down. She handed Edward a mop. "Here. You can clean the back while I get the front."

"Actually, I think I'll do the front." Ed took a step back with the business end of the mop in his grip, planted the pole end in the dirt, and vaulted up onto the ceiling of the building with the mop still in his hands. "This way I can clean Hiruma's sign too. I'll come down and get the walls later."

Mamori closed her mouth, shook herself, and smiled up at the brash boy. "Alright. I'll get the back. Do you want a bucket of water?"

"Sure." She got an extra bucket from the supply closet, filled it with soapy water, and put the handle on the end of her mop. "Here you go."

Ed reached over the top of the ridiculously ornate sign and snagged the handle. "Thanks." When the cream puff party showed up, all three jaws dropped open. Edward was hanging from the top of the ornate Devil Bat sign by his feet and was polishing one of the letters. He noticed them, unhooked his feet, and back flipped onto the ground. "Good. Hiruma's waiting inside for you." Then he walked around to the back and borrowed Mamori's mop for a moment to vault back up onto the roof and resumed cleaning the letters. He was still doing this at 3:25, when students started showing up.

He back flipped off the roof again, getting a round of applause from the students outside, and told Hiruma. "We've got a big crowd, so we should move the sweets and stuff outside so people can come in and get interviewed one at a time." He grabbed several plates with cream puffs and headed out the door with Sena, Monta, and Mamori following.

At about 4:55, they started sending kids in to be interviewed after Kurita woke up. Hiruma told them all what to look for. "We can start by asking each person what position they want to play, but we should be able to figure it out for ourselves."

"The first major distinction we should make," Kurita continued, "is are they more suited to offence or defense? Offensive players need to be able to think and execute plays like professionals, while defensive player rely more on instinct, like an animal."

"How do you tell the difference?" Sena asked.

"By the way they make their entrance. You're sitting straight, with your legs together. That's offense. Edward," Hiruma pointed at the seated teen, "Sprawls when he sits. That's defense, although it doesn't really work on him, since he's sort of our tight end."

"What's a tight end?" Monta asked.

"A tight end is a player who can take more than one position, like catching and blocking. Edward can run and block. We might need a tight end later who can catch, But right now we've got monkey for that."

Monta was kept from tackling the quarterback by the sound of the door opening up. "E-excuse me!"

Ed almost growled at the kid. Why did so many of their players have to be taller than him? He zipped around the room with straight lines and right angles before sitting ram rod straight in the chair. "Offence," Everyone but Mamori said in unison. Honestly, they wouldn't find a better example.

The kid started talking again. "My name is Manabu Yukimitsu, second year, homeroom four."

"Second year?" Hurima frowned.

Yukimitsu startled. "Is it really a problem that I'm a second year student?"

"There wouldn't be any good second years lef-"

"Don't worry about it!" Kurita quickly interrupted his demonic friend.

Ed leaned his elbows on the table. "So, Yukimitsu, why'd you decide to join the football team?"

He looked down at his knees. "Ever since first grade, all I've done is go to cram school. I was never allowed to do any activities." _So he's got no athletic ability whatsoever, _Ed groaned to himself. _Still, that height could be an advantage. Sometimes that's all you need._ "When I start third year, I'll have to take the exams. As it is, the end of high school life is too harsh. So for a final memory…"

"Did you say 'memory'? We're here to win, baldy!" _My thoughts exactly, _echoed Ed, _although the hair insult was a little too far. That's like teasing me about…I WON'T SAY IT!_

But the kid recovered quickly and jumped on the implications. "Of course, I intend to play to win! For whatever it's worth, I'll do the best I can!" Then he started gushing about Eyeshield 21 and Ed had to hold in his laughter at the expression on Sena's face. He might be used to hero worship, but the smaller boy clearly was not. After Yukimitsu left, he nervously grabbed a cream puff and started gnawing on it as Mamori called for the next person.

**I didn't intend for the first part of this to get so long, but Ed really loves to use flashy moves while he's cleaning. I think Mamori wouldn't mind, she puts up with almost everything else. **

**I may cut off the end of this story at the Christmas Bowl and not go on to the international tournament. I have other ideas I want to work on, and this isn't getting a very good reception, despite my attempts to get it noticed. For all of you who did leave reviews, thank you, and know that I will answer any questions via PM.**


	22. Race you to the Top

The next students rocketed into the room, practically blowing the door off its hinges and landing in a heap on the floor. "Defense" was the unanimous response.

Mamori walked around the table and approached the uniformed figure, only to jolt back when he snapped his head back up. "First year, Homeroom one! My name is Daikichi Komusubi!" She swiveled his head and looked right at Kurita. "A-apprentice!" Ed eyed the small boy. _Shaking like a leaf and sweating? This guy's either really tired or really nervous. _He looked at the bewildered pipsqueaks and the equally confounded Kurita. _I'm guessing nervous. _"Please!" _Yep, definitely nervous. _"An apprentice!" He bowed low and waited for the verdict.

"Maybe," speculated the only female in the room, "He means he wants to be Kurita's apprentice?" The boy nodded vigorously.

"You mean you want to be a lineman?" Kurita asked. The boy nodded so hard his whole body moved. "Yay! I've got a buddy on the line! Let's go for it!" Daikichi's whole face lit up and he ran back outside.

Okay, two weirdoes down, how many more to go? But the rest of them seemed to be pushovers, either more fans than potential players or attracted to the fame portion. That one kid, Miyake, seemed almost creepy. How were they going to root out the actual players in this bunch?

Hiruma answered Edward's unspoken question. "We'll have a team tryout."

Ed looked over at where Hiruma was surfing a website as the others left for the end of the day. "You're going to use that?"

Hiruma grinned. "With a few modifications. And you'll be participating."

Ed glared. "Was that a challenge?"

"If you're not the first one up, I'll kill you."

Ed walked to the door. "As if you could. See you tomorrow."

The next day, Edward looked up at Tokyo Tower. It had looked shorter on the website. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea. He looked around the crowd. Most of the boys from yesterday were there, along with the three punks who'd played as linemen during their last game. Mini-Kurita and Annoyingly Tall Person were there as well. This might be interesting to watch, once he made it to the top, of course.

"Okay you guys!" Hiruma shouted to get everyone's attention. "The rules are simple! The goal is the special observatory!" If Ed remembered correctly from the sight, that was about 820 feet up. "Fatty is up there waiting to make snow cones. You've got to bring him the ice!" Hiruma scooped some ice from the huge vat Mamori stood next to into a bag and held it up for everyone to see. "It doesn't matter how much you carry, if it melts, you can keep coming back for refills. When you reach the goal line, as long as you have a little ice left, you're fine. You'll have made the cut!"

Ed was the first one to the vat. He filled up a bag with ice until it was about the size of his head, tied the mouth closed, and started climbing the stairs. He looked up at the spiral. _Hmm. Maybe I could…_ He took the bag in his teeth and jumped over the railing towards the bottom of the next layer of stairs in the spiral. _Hiruma never said I had to walk up. _Gripping hard, he pulled himself up, balanced on the edge of the stairs as he turned around, and leapt for the next layer. By the time Sena and Monta finished getting their ice and started climbing, he was out of their sight.

The quarterback watched Ed with irritation and a small amount of respect. _I should have been more specific! I hope Cerberes bites him. _Then Edward swung right past the snapping canine. _Darn it! I'll have to get him with the guns. _

The alchemist opened the door to the Grand Observatory, got hit by a wave of heat, and slammed the door shut. _What was that!? _He cracked the door open and looked in at the numerous space heaters. _So I have to get through that without my ice melting. I'll have to be fast._ He gripped the bag of ice like a football, with both arms twined around it to block out the heat, and bolted inside the cauldron. He worked his way through the maze, knocking a few of the space heaters over with his metal leg as he raced for the stairs. Once he got out, he checked his sack. Half the ice had melted. _If I remember correctly, ice water is actually colder than ice. I should be fine if I'm quick._ And so he placed the bag in his mouth again and jumped.

Hiruma wanted to throw something at the screen. Why hadn't the cauldron melted the blondie's ice? There was sugar in it, for crying out loud! He grabbed his gun and headed for the door. "Where are you going?" Kurita asked from his seat by the ice crusher.

"To be the guardian, what else?" And he went to lie in wait for the alchemist.

He waited until Ed landed on the platform level with his lair. "Well," the blondie said to himself, "I guess I can walk from here."

"Ya-Haa!" Hiruma let loose with the guns, expecting Edward to block with the bag of ice. Instead, he brought up his right arm as a shield. The bullets clanged as they hit the metal surface while Ed ran for the stairs. Soon he was out of range yet again. Curse that brat! Hiruma caught the next elevator back up to the landing platform to wait for the triumphant Tight End.

Kurita jumped when the door slammed open. "Edward, you made it!"

Ed put his foot down from where it had kicked the door and walked over to the bigger boy, depositing the ice in front of him. "That enough for a snow cone?"

"Of course!" Kurita happily poured the ice into the crusher and topped off the treat.

Ed thanked him and wandered over to where Hiruma was watching the different screens. "What are these for?"

"Making sure people follow the rules," answered the quarterback.

"Like that?" Ed pointed at a screen that showed someone stealing Yukimitsu's ice. The sheer amount impressed Ed. That boy really must have wanted to be on the team.

"Shoot!" Hiruma grabbed his gun and stalked toward the door again.

Ed laughed. "Going to play Guardian on the cheaters?"

Hiruma paused in his rage and grinned back at his fellow teammate. "Those who are demons belong in Hell." He slipped out the door. Ed laughed and sat down in front of the screens to watch as Monta and Sena crashed through the doors.

**Let's face it, Ed never followed the rules, and he's not about to start now. What did you think of my account of the try out? We get the second half tomorrow.**

**I got more reviews Yesterday than ever before. Oh, and here's an interesting tidbit. Usually, the US readers outranks everyone else, but yesterday, more people from the UN read this. I guess I really am surrounded by Super Bowl crazies.**


	23. Morning Practice

Mini-Kurita showed up not long after that, with the three Hah Brothers right on his tail. _I wonder why they actually tried, _Ed thought. It would have been easy for them to just give up, like all the other kids. Then he saw the energy between the small powerhouse and the three punks crackle. He smiled to himself. _Rivalry. One of the best motivators in the world. _And he would know, especially after all the fights he'd had with Mustang.

They spent most of the day up in the Special Observatory, eating snow cones, watching the city through the binoculars. About ten minutes before it was time to leave, the elevator dinged cheerily and Mamori stepped out. "There's nobody left down there. It looks like everyone else went home."

Hiruma got up from his makeshift computer desk. "Time to roll out then."

"What?! Just a little longer!" Kurita begged.

"If they had taken more ice, I wonder if they would have made it up in time." Monta wondered out loud to Sena.

"That's what the try-out was for," Hiruma added as he picked up one of his numerous weapons. "To see who had the perseverance to keep going…" and a figure crashed through the door and fell flat onto the floor.

Ed raced over and checked his pulse. "He's fine," he said to the worried Mamori and concerned Sena, both hunched over the boy. "He probably pushed himself a little too hard."

"It's all melted!" The quartet looked over at Kurita, who'd just dumped the contents of Yukimitsu's bag into a bucket. Not a single ice cube. Then Edward saw something very interesting.

Hiruma looked the boy up and down. He walked over to the ice grinder, picked one of the ice cubes out of the top, and threw it into the bucket. "Hey…there's one little cube left. Baldy made the cut!" _I wonder what that as about. _Ed filed away the incident for future reference.

The next morning, everyone met up for morning practice. Well, almost everyone. "Hey Manager, where's Blondie?"

Mamori scowled at him. "I told you to stop calling me that! And I don't have his phone number, so I couldn't call him or add him to the phone tree I made last night for everyone. He'll show up for school and we can add him in then." Hiruma seem to find her answer satisfactory, because he yelled at everyone to stop practicing and said they were going for a run to cool down before they got the statistics for the new players.

About halfway through their run, they passed a park. Hiruma called for a stop when he heard someone yelling. "Ha! Yah! Yah!"

He growled. "It's that Blondie!" He charged past the gates to reprimand Edward for missing morning practice and lazing around on a park bench, maybe with some bullets for good measure. But he wasn't sitting on one of the benches, or using any of the equipment. He was sparring with the air.

Roundhouse kicks, sweep kicks, flying scissor kicks, butterfly kicks, hook kicks, spinning heel kicks, jabs, hooks, hammer fists, overhands, haymakers, uppercuts, straight crosses, aerial somersaults, flips in both directions, walking up trees and poles. Time after time he landed blows on the thick metal rods of the play equipment, although Hiruma noticed that he only hit with his leg arm and right leg. _Probably doesn't want to damage the stuff, _he thought. Jumonji and the two other punks decided then and there never to get in a fight with this kid. One more aerial flip and he landed on his feet with his knees bent. That was when he saw them. "Oh. Hey." He stood up, grabbed his jacket and pants, and slipped it on over his long sleeved under armor and exercise shorts. "I just finished. You guys out for a run or something?"

Hiruma pointed a pistol at the teen. "You missed morning practice, Blondie. You get a penalty game."

"Actually, I didn't." He knocked the barrel to the side. "I just did it on my own. Besides, I've been doing this longer than any of you have been playing football. Were you heading to the clubhouse after this?"

Kurita cut the spiky blond off before he could respond. "Yes. Why don't you come with us?"

Ed shrugged. "Sure. Just let me go get my bag." He picked up what looked like a briefcase from one of the benches and joined the others for the rest of their run, jogging beside them.

"So Edward," Sena started, "You do that every morning?"

"Pretty much. To train the mind, you've got to train the body. That was my motto even before I found out what it actually meant."

Yukimitsu perked up. "What does it mean?"

"Well, physical activity gives you more energy and floods your system with all kinds of good hormones. It boosts your brainpower, but there's another advantage. As your body gets stronger, the likelihood of you being unable to think straight because of an injury or sickness decreases. So football actually helps your study habits." The tall boy looked very thoughtful after that.

Once they got back, Hiruma started getting the stats for the new players, to get a better idea of what they could do so he could work his plays around him. That the Hah brothers lifted the exact same amount, 65 kilos, didn't surprise him, but the fact that the miniature Kurita could lift 110 kilos did. Next to him, Ed laughed. "What are you looking at, Blondie?"

Ed pointed to where the Hah brothers and Mini-Kurita had just lifted their maximums. Hiruma grinned at the rivalry, and even more when he saw how it made those three slackers actually work for a change. "Those four are going to be just fine together."

But Yukimitsu wouldn't be. No speed, almost no strength, not even enough weight to stop a small tackle. The only thing he actually had was height, and that was only useful if he could catch. Still, his determination was strong enough. Maybe he'd make something out of himself before the fall season.

**I really enjoyed writing about Edward's morning practice. Just so you know, those are all names of martial arts moves. ****Please review, it will be the best birthday present ever for me! And thank you for all those wonderful comments about yesterday's chapter.**


	24. The Gunslingers

As they walked back to the clubhouse, Ed asked Kurita, "What stage is the tournament at right now? Second round, third round?"

Kurita looked down. "The Kanagawa tournament is already over. The Nagas probably won. I don't know about the Tokyo tournament."

"Finals are going on right now, actually!" Yelled Hiruma from behind his laptop screen. "It's Ojo vs. Seibu. That team's new this year.

He turned the screen around so Sena and Monta could get a better look. The receiver rubbed his chin. "The finals? I'd kinda like to see that."

Sena asked, "Aren't they showing it on TV?"

"Why don't we take the new guys to see their first game?" Hiruma suggested. Kurita seconded the motion, so he dialed a number and said "Bring six taxis." Those taxis turned out to be Zokugagku motorcycles, complete with riders. Ed and Hiruma each got their own, while everyone else had to ride two or three to a bike.

There was already a huge crowd when they got to the field, although the game was half over and the half time show was going on. Ed didn't really know what to make of that. Most of the women he knew wouldn't be caught dead in those clothes, acting like that, and yet these girls seemed to have no problem with it. He felt distinctly better when the Devil Bats directed their attention elsewhere.

Most specifically, to what one of the players on the Seibu side of the field had just said. "Well, well, do they give up? It's 20-7 after the first half."

Ed looked at the scoreboard and winced. "That has to hurt."

Sena looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Ojo's losing." Ed looked to the right of the scoreboard and saw the cowboy-styled coach talking to a big guy drinking out of a water bottle. "Hey Hiruma, who's he?"

The second year pulled out his ever present laptop and looked him up. "Jo Tetsuma. He does the 40 yard dash in 5.0 seconds. He bench presses 115 kilos."

Ed looked oer his shoulder at the screen, along with Sena and Monta. "Is he any good?"

"The numbers aren't what make him amazing."

The kid on the side of the field leaning back in the rocking chair heard their discussion and decided to pipe up. "Once Tetsuma is given a route to follow, He won't stray from his path no matter what gets in his way."

"Just like the characters for his name, Tetsuma is an iron horse," the coach added as he returned his guns to their holsters. "Nothing can run him off his tracks."

Sena looked at Hiruma, confused. The blond rolled his eyes. "He means the passing route." He held a sheet of paper covered in at least a dozen different pass routes in front of Sena and Monta's faces. "You'll memorize all of these so we can use them in the next game." Sena and Monta broke out in cold sweats when they saw the sheer volume of what they had to work on. Ed just laughed. Things like this really made him glad he couldn't catch.

The rest of the game was sort of painful to watch. It reminded him a little of his first fight with Scar. He had pulled out all his skills, done everything he knew, and there was still the one thing about his opponent he couldn't conquer. With Scar, it had been his ability to break down whatever Edward tried to construct. For the Seibu Wild Gunman, it was their passing, particularly Tetsuma and that kid with the hat. And the worst part was, there wasn't an Al to fight with them, or a Mustang to bail them out.

Finally, Tetsuma was taken out of play and suddenly there was no one to stop Shin. He grabbed the ball right out of the air, raced up the field and put his team in the lead with one point. But when the Knights went back to their bench at the end of the game, none of them looked like winners.

"You're slacking off!" Shogun roared at them, crushing their water cooler with his fist. "What kind of a team gives up 20 points?! You're getting soft!" Shin turned his eyes away from his furious coach and saw something much worse.

Sena and Edward.

They had seen him almost lose. _What a shameful game for them to see. _He couldn't stand being so weak.

But Sena wasn't thinking about the disgrace for Ojo. He was thinking about the toughest battle yet, in the fall tournament, where those kinds of teams would be their everyday opponents. So when the others asked why he wasn't getting on the bikes to get back to Deimon, he said, "Uh, well…I was thinking…for afternoon practice, maybe I'll run back." The rest of the team followed his lead.

When they got back to the clubhouse, someone was waiting for them. "Excuse me," the man said, gold tooth flashing, "I'm looking for Elric Edward." Hiruma pointed over his shoulder at the blond. Miracle Ito scurried over to the former alchemist. "I'm Miracle Ito, from a modeling agency. I was wondering if I could have a moment of your time to talk about possibly signing up to work for us."

Edward eyed the man. "Doesn't that Sakuraba kid work for your company?"

"Yes."

"Then why do you need me?" Ed stated to walk away.

But Miracle Ito grabbed the back of his shirt. "It's true that Sakuraba is one of our more popular talents, but there's been a larger demand in the market for more exotic people like yourself." He simpered and pulled out his business card. "You are just what we're looking for."

Ed batted away the proffered card. "Not interested. I'm already working with someone. Besides, I thought you guys only liked freakishly tall people."

"It's true that we usually don't offer short people-"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE'D HAVE TO BE AN INCH AWAY FROM THE CAMERA LENS TO EVEN BE A SPOT ON THE FILM?!" He calmed down after that. "Besides, I'm already busy with sports and school." _Not to mention Hiromu._ "Sorry." He walked away, leaving the man fuming. Why did all the best talent have to play sports? It wasn't fair!

**So I introduced the gunslingers and had my second bit of Ito fun. I may or may not leave it at that, though. Tell me if you would like to see more.**

**Please Review, and thanks to everyone who did yesterday!**


	25. Constructing the Team

When the gang got to the clubhouse the next day, no mouth stayed closed. What the heck had happened? Their clubhouse was a construction zone! Ed glared at Hiruma. "What did you do?"

The second year cackled. "We're getting a locker room. The principle promised one extension per victory. This is for beating Zokugaku." Ed smirked. So he didn't just threaten students after all. The devil walked up to one of the workers and asked, "Can you finish it in one week?"

The man to a puff of his cigarette and blew out. "You must be crazy! The concrete won't even be dry by then."

Hiruma scowled. He needed it finished now! Then he got another of his so-insane-it-had-to-work ideas. He slammed the butt of his gun into the ground and shouted at his team, "All right, all hands on deck! All of you to work!"

"What?!" They shrieked, backpedaling away from the clearly insane quarterback.

"Construction work will be perfect for drills," he proclaimed as he threw work clothes and boots at the rest of them. "It's basic strength training."

They each grudgingly picked up a pile of clothes and headed into the school to change. "Man," Monta complained to Sena, "why do you and me need this training? We don't have to be strong to cover our positions."

"Yeah," Ed replied from inside one of the bathroom stalls as he pulled off his pants and stuck his feet into the looser work pants, "But construction needs more than just strength. You'll get trained for endurance too, and any athlete can use that." He tied the laces of the heavy duty boots, slipped the work shirt on over his under armor and unlocked the door with his other clothes in hand, finished. "Besides, the more muscle you have, the harder it is to get hurt. Without muscle, you're too easy for someone like Shin to break." After that, the boys rushed to get changed.

They deposited their own shirts and sneakers in the clubhouse and lined up in front of Hiruma in the work clothes. He looked them over. "Good. You'll take orders from this guy." He jerked his thumb at the smoker he'd talked to earlier. "He'll tell you what to do."

The smoker looked over each player. Kurita and Komusubi, as linemen, needed to build their arms up. He assigned them to hauling steel and gravel. The two pipsqueaks both ran all over the field, but they needed to outrun opponents, not overpower them. They were told to move the bagged concrete from one side of the building to the other in the longest route possible.

Bulking up the tall guy wouldn't do much good, but he could use a boost in endurance. Concrete mixing seemed like a good idea, and it'd build up his arm strength at the same time. One glance at the brothers told him they'd need special attention. Jumonji, Kuroki, and Togano went right under him, with orders that had them doing everything, with absolutely NO slacking off.

Finally, the only one left was the short blond. Hiruma had told him about this kid. "So you're the Tight End."

Ed stood tall. "Yeah. What about it?" He challenged the old timer.

He looked the shorty over again. Simply putting him on speed training with the other two was tempting, but the kid didn't need a special sort of training, being rather like Hiruma that way. He was rather the opposite of that tall kid from earlier, who needed to work on everything. Finally, he put him to work shoveling out dirt for the foundation. It was a full body workout, so it was endurance and strength training, and it didn't hurt that you needed to wear gloves for the job. Maybe he'd switch him to a speed exercise later.

Monta and Sena carted the bags around all afternoon, jealously catching sight of the practicing soccer team. They were working of their footwork, doing nothing but kicking the ball around and learning cool tricks from their coach. One guy was practicing kicking the ball straight into the air, over his opponent's head, swerving around, and kicking it again when it landed. Sena unloaded the bags from his arms again. "The basics are pretty tough…"

Monta nodded. "Basic is fine but, I want to hurry up and work on my super catch plays." The construction chief couldn't help but overhear.

"What're they mixing concrete for?" Hiruma asked, "We can just have a block foundation, right?"

Musashi smiled. He wouldn't get a better opportunity. "If you don't lay a good foundation, then the whole thing will fall apart." He saw the two smaller players stop and listen.

Hiruma, oblivious to the two listening teenagers, commented, "We're not planning to use this building for decades, anyway."

"You're going to use it through the end of this year, though, aren't you?" He saw Sena turn his head to hear better. Musashi grabbed the knot at the back of his head and pulled it tighter. "In order to build something that will remain standing until the end, you have to start with a strong and solid foundation."

"Yeah, my teacher wouldn't let me learn kicks until three months into my training." Musashi looked over at the blond pipsqueak still digging. Had he caught on to what the older boy was trying to do? "If I hadn't gotten stronger first, I would've hurt myself with the very first kick I tried." He winked at Musashi.

The receiver and runningback ran off to get more bags and Musashi turned to Ed. "The foundation's almost ready. We can start pouring in the concrete now. Elric, get up here." Ed put his hand on the rim of the pit and vaulted up out and onto the level ground, grinning.

The pipsqueak started pouring the mixed concrete into the hole. "So, did you ever play a sport?" he asked.

Musashi sighed. "Yep, but I quit. Still," he looked around at the kids working hard, "it'd been nice to be on a team again." He turned back to the wall he was working on, but couldn't hide the small smile. Ed just shrugged and poured out the concrete.

**I liked letting Ed in on Musashi's little strategy. Please Review!**

**Also, I wrote a fight between Agon and Edward in a couple chapters! Who wanted to see that?**


	26. Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

The next morning Mamori steered all the players away from the construction site and towards the field once they'd changed into their uniforms. "Yesterday we sort of practiced in groups, but from now on we're officially going to break you up. First, the line, with Kurita as leader!" Komusubi, Kurita, and the three punks lined up together. The leader and his mini looked excited at the prospect of class, but the other three scowled like they wanted to kill someone. "You're going to practice blocking and tackling. For now, Edward will join you guys." Ed sauntered over to the small group and the three Hah brothers glared at him. He just smirked.

Mamori continued. "Next, the backfield, with Hiruma as leader!" The guns started clicking and terror filled the three other faces. "You're going to practice passing and running plays."

Sena cried behind his eyeshield. _I think I'd be better off in Kurita's group. _

The line team left the right side of the field to be torn up by gunfire and unpacked the blocking equipment. Kurita grabbed one of the pads. "Alright, we'll use these to practice against each other. The one holding the pad will be the defensive player, and the one pushing will try to knock him down. Edward, you'll hold the pad for Jumonji." The blonds glared at each other as Kurita handed out the other assignments.

Ed splayed his feet and bent his knees. Then he noticed the punk walking away. "Where you going, stinkbag?" Jumonji whirled around. Ed grinned a challenge. "Don't think you can knock me over?" And in he came. The taller blond slammed into Edward, leaning forward and pushing his weight into the pad.

Edward leaned away from the onslaught, letting the other lineman think he had the upper hand. Then with a quick thrust, he toppled the punk over on his back. Jumonji growled at the figure standing over him. "You need to keep your feet spread wider for better balance. Try again." He unhooked his left hand from the pad and extended it to the downed player.

He grabbed the hand and tried to pull Ed into the dirt with him, but the teen just did a back hand spring and glowered at him. "Cheap tricks like that don't work with experienced opponents." He spread his feet and brought up the pad. "Try again." Jumonji charged.

He hurdled towards Edward again, but this time pushed in the middle of the pad, not the top. Edward grinned at him over the piece of equipment. Then a single shove and the punk was staring at the blue sky again. He wiped his forehead and looked over at where Kurita was holding off Togano. "Hey Kurita, I think Jumonji needs help with his balance."

Kurita called a halt to practice and walked over to the two blonds with the other three linemen trailing behind. "What's wrong?"

"I keep knocking him flat on his back, and I'm not even trying." He grinned at the punk as his face went red with frustration.

Kurita frowned. "Jumonji, how were you standing?" The taller blond thought for a second before putting his feet together, locking his knees, and leaning forward.

"Oh, that's not it at all!" The big boy rushed to demonstrate. "Your feet should be apart a little wider than your hips, and you need to bend your knees. You balance your weight on the balls of your feet." He helped coax Jumonji's legs into the right stance. "Now try again."

Jumonji threw himself at Edward, but again locked in a struggle with the boy. This time, though, he bent his knees instead of focusing on just power, and kept his heels in the air. When Ed tried to knock him on his butt again, he was forced to take a few steps back, but stayed on his feet. Kurita watched with a smile and said they should switch positions now.

The punk grabbed the pad and twined his arms into the holds. He glowered at the shorter blond. There was no way this kid would put him on the ground again, not know that he knew how to stand. Ed walked up and put his hands around the middle of the pad, elbows bent close to his sides, knees loose and weight on the balls of his feet. He pushed.

Jumonji took a step back. How was this shorty doing that? He braced his legs against the dirt and pushed back. Ed glanced down at Jumonji's feet. "You're off balance again!" He thrust forward with his hips and knocked the boy flat.

The punk growled and rocketed to his feet. "Again." He held up the pad and Ed charged right in.

Halfway through practice, Kurita told Edward to go join Hiruma and the others. "I can only work on your blocking and tackling. You need to train with Hiruma for the running and passing plays. Jumonji, you can try pushing against me."

The lead punk walked over and Togano, Kurita's original blocking partner, stepped out of the way. Kurita held up the pad and Jumonji planted his feet and pushed. _Wow, _Kurita thought, _he's much better than yesterday. _That prompted him to pull aside the other three and give them a quick lesson on balance and where to place your hands.

The next day, after their work at the construction site finished, Kurita had Ed practice against Togano and Kuroki. After a brief trash-talk and baiting session, the two punks attacked without mercy and both got lessons on putting his lesson about stances into practice. "Don't put one foot too far in front of the other," he heard Ed coach, "or your opponent can slip a foot in between them and trip you."

"Is that-urg!-even legal in football?" Togano asked, still trying to get Ed in the dirt.

"No, but it's something to keep in mind," he added as he leaned towards Togano, pressuring him to match the push with his own strength. "Remember how those Zokugaku punks tried to pull illegal moves? You don't know when someone else might do that."

"Where did-huff-you learn that?" Togano slid back a few inches, and Kurita was proud to note that he didn't lock his knees to stop the motion.

"Martial arts training. I started when I was about seven." He thrust back and finally pushed the other lineman down. "That's why I'm stronger and faster than most kids my age." He extended a hand down. "Come on, my turn to play offence."

**And there's the birth of one of my home grown moves. I can't wait to use it in the Taiyo game.**

**Please Review!**


	27. Hacking In

They continued like that until the new locker room was finished. They'd work the first half of their practice with the construction crew, hauling steel beams and poles, bags of mortar, and other supplies. At one point, Hiruma had them work on the roof. Then for the second half, they'd split into their two groups and work on the specifics of their positions, Ed switching teams halfway through.

Two weeks after they first say the construction site, Hiruma shot a bag hanging from one of the cranes and confetti sprayed all over the new building and the team happily waiting to go inside. "Everyone has their own space!" Sena yelled gleefully when they finally entered the new room.

Yukimitsu looked at his name above one locker in slight awe, but the three Hah Brothers growled. "How come the three of us have to share one locker?"

The sole receiver was mad for a very different reason. "Hey!" He whipped around and shouted at everyone. "This is it! I have something to say to everyone! Stop making fun of me by calling me "Monta"!"

"I got it from Joe Montana!" Hiruma said. Monta turned towards, him, interested and slightly less enraged. "He's one of the greatest superstars in NFL history. He's like a god. He'd use his skill to maneuver his many dramatic comeback victories. It was 'Montana Magic'." Ed laughed at the story, but wasn't surprised when Monta bought it. Heck, the kid needed someone besides Honjo to look up to now, why not give him a football hero. As the monkey boy proudly proclaimed his new name, Ed smiled, just a little.

Mamori walked in with a stack of towels. "Now that we have so much room, we can finally get everything in order."

Something fell of the top of her pile and Kurita reached down and grabbed it. "Oh, Football Monthly! I haven't read this months' issue yet." Komusubi peaked at the magazine over the bigger kid's arm. "Wow! Someone gets to play against an American high school!"

Mamori peaked at the magazine over the pile of towels. "Doesn't that say it's held week after next? Isn't that right in the middle of the Kanto Tournament? Will teams be able to play?"

Kurita nodded. "Anyone who's not playing in the Kanto tournament."

"Like us," Ed added from the bench.

"Yup," Hiruma answered. "I already sent in our application."

The rest of the team yelled, "You're Crazy! We couldn't even beat Ojo, how are we supposed to take on the Americans?"

Ed got to his feet. "So we get stronger by playing weaker teams? Just weaker teams?" The other boys looked at him, confused. He sighed. "If you don't push yourself, how do you get better?" He turned back to Hiruma. "When do the results of the lottery come out?"

"Tomorrow."

The next day, they gathered around Hiruma's screen as he opened the email from Football Monthly. It read, "Thank you for your application. Official lottery results. The Taiyo sphinx will represent Japan in the competition."

Hiruma narrowed his eyes. " Heh heh heh, that's what I thought." _Lottery results my rifle's butt._ "It's a little too perfect for that team to have won." He flipped open his phone.

But before he could dial the Football Monthly number, Ed asked, "Why do you say that?"

"They're known for their heavy line. Of course they'd get picked to go up against guys like America." He dialed the number and a secretary picked up. "Hello, Football Monthly? Want an interview with the much talked about Eyeshield 21 and Edward Elric?"

That was how the two boys and a few other members of the team ended up in the magazine's office about twenty minutes later. Ed and Sena stood in front of two interns setting up a camera. Ed said, "Okay, I'll keep these guys busy while you do whatever Hiruma's planning."

"Why me," he whined.

"Because I can keep talking for a much longer time than you. Now get the phone, he's ringing you!"

Sena picked up the vibrating phone and held it to his ear. "Alright, headquarters to spy 0021," Hiruma's voice buzzed into his ear. "While Blondie keeps them busy, infiltrate the computer room."

Three minutes later, Sena stuck his head in the doorway labeled 'computer room' and scanned for occupants. Only one person, easy enough. He crouched down and ran to one of the empty monitors behind the sole worker. He waited for a moment to be sure he hadn't been spotted or heard before bringing the phone back up to his ear for further instructions. "First, type ipconfig tracert. Then type netstat."

"What," he asked the phone, "What language are you speaking?"

Hiruma growled. "You're useless! I should have made you the decoy. I'll send you a text message with the step-by-step procedure. You must follow it precisely!" Sena continued typing what looked like nonsense into the computer while Ed talked up a storm about Deimon and Football, and even martial arts. Finally, Sena pressed enter and every screen in the room lit up with a devil bat.

End every single one of them shrieked, "Ya-Ha! We've hacked all your computers!"

Sena crept out of the computer room now besieged by devils. "This is probably illegal."

"So is lying in print," Hiruma raged over the phone still clutched in Sena's hand. "We're completely in the right! Now get Edward and get back here." He hung up on Sena and directed his attention to his laptop. "Now, the preparation is complete." He cackled madly. "Let's seal the deal by sending an email!"

Kumabukuro laughed at another of Edward's stories and quickly resumed taking notes. "So your quarterback really kicks you when he's happy?"

"Oh yeah," Ed answered, grinning. "You should have seen how hard he kicked Monta after his first catch on the field, it was hilarious!" Ed glanced at his watch. Hiruma and Sena should be done right about now. "Well, I guess it's time for me to go get Sena and head back to school. We still have to finish afternoon practice. Bye!" Sena syuck his head in the room only to be pulled right out and dragged down the hallway by Edward. "Did you finish it?" Ed asked once they were out of the building.

Sena nodded.

**To make up for yesterdays' lack of a chapter, if I can get five reviews, I will post the next one TODAY! And it has Agon and Ed in it.**


	28. Agon vs Edward

The next day, the whole team showed up at the magazine's office. Hiruma opened up his laptop and proudly displayed the fruits of his hacking. "Here's the email! It says that Deimon has been selected to participate! The Americans have been notified by phone!" By Hiruma himself, of course. Like anyone else would do it right if he let them.

One of the workers checked the "sent" box on the company's email. "The message did go out…The Americans received word that "your opponent will be Deimon"."

"Could this get any worse," the manager screamed as he nearly tore out what little hair he had left.

Apparently it could. The Taiyo players, there to discuss the upcoming match with the Americans, had noticed the commotion. "What does this mean," the thinnest of the three giants asked. "Was today not by Football Monthly's arrangement? That is why our presence is here."

_Oh great, _Ed thought. _Another player who thinks he's too good for regular people. What does he think he is Pharaoh? _The hairstyle and kohl-rimmed eyes certainly gave that impression.

Hiruma decided to stoke the fire. He pointed right at the fat headed member and said, "Deimon is the one who will compete. So you guys can all run home to your mummies." The pun mildly impressed Ed.

Of course, the fat head rose to the barb. "There's no way that a puny team like Deimon can win!"

And then the thin guy just added fuel. "It would be the shame of Japan."

_I could get a pretty good game out of this right now. Might be what those three brothers need to shape up. _"Well then..." the demonic quarterback continued, "Do you mean to say that you're better than we are?"

"Naturally!" the bigger boy shouted. Ed sighed. He'd been hoping for something a bit more…colorful.

Hiruma displayed his fangs in a wide grin. "Why don't we see about that? Let's play a game to determine who will represent Japan!"

After Kasamatsu finished yelling at the Deimon players, the Taiyo bunch headed to a nearby burger join for lunch. Harao kept insulting the Deimon team while the linemen scarfed down burgers.

While the quarterback prattled on about the inadequacy of the restaurant, Banba looked over at one of the nearby tables. His eyes widened at who was sitting next to them.

Kasamatsu noticed his captain tense. "What is it?" He looked around and froze. Agon was lounging with a few girls at the table next to them. The lineman looked back down at his food and tried to avoid eye contact with the boy heralded as a 100 year genius, and one of the city's worst brawlers.

Harao apparently didn't notice and continued discussing their next opponent. "Assemblyman Habashira has close ties with my father's company. His son's team played Deimon the other day." Unknown to the quarterback, Togano, Kuroki, and Jumonji perked up at this. "He said that linemen 51, 52, and 53 were just scrubs."

"Hah?"

"Haah?!"

_"Haaah?!" _ The three Devil Bats prepared to fight the burly students.

Kasamatsu decided to join in the trash talk. "Heeheehee! As long as those douchebags don't quit, we'll have an-" A hand clamped down on his shoulder and he looked up.

Jumonji was standing over him with a scowl. "I'm number 51. Which one of you called me a douchebag? Was it you?!" By this time, Ed had wandered into the restaurant as well. He sat down at the table behind Agon's to watch the drama unfold, not knowing he was sitting almost back to back with one of Japan's most feared players. Kuroki got a bat out of one of their bags but Jumonji waved the punk weapon away. "I don't need the bat. I'm gonna tear him apart with my bare hands!"

Harao had grown annoyed by the rabble. "Banba, take a minute to clean this guy up."

The behemoth answered, "One minute is too long."

Banba started dragging the three punks out of the restaurant. Edward pushed back his seat, intending to follow them in case the Egyptian went too far and he had to step in.

Edward's chair hit Agon's when he shoved it back and jostled the boy as he was in the process of making a play for one of the ladies. He whipped his head around and glared at the kid who dared to… There was no one in the seat. He looked around and saw a blond exiting after the guys who'd caused a ruckus earlier and scared his girlfriends. "I'll be back," he whispered to the girls and got up.

Banba threw the three Deimon boys in a junk pile out in the alleyway. "Exactly ten seconds," Harao commented.

Ed bristled as the fat headed one said, "They're way out of their league. Are they really linemen?"

Harao turned away from the ugly sight of broken rebels. "They learned their lesson. You showed them what a real blocker is like."

_Blocker? _Jumonji lauched himself at Banba, but this time he remembered what Kurita and Edward had said. _"Take the heel of your hand and place it into your opponent's armpit and push off." _

_ "Your feet should be apart a little wider than your hips, and you need to bend your knees. You balance your weight on the balls of your feet."_ He set his feet, bent his knees, and pushed.

Banba threw him back into the dirt and walked away, but he couldn't help but think…_At the last moment, all of a sudden, he seemed to get stronger. _But it was probably nothing, so he followed his teammates out of the alley.

Then Kuroki felt a shadow over them. "You trash disturbed my date." He looked up and saw a tall kid with dreads. "It's nice to see you in the trash heap, where trash like you belongs."

"They're not trash," Edward said from behind Agon.

Agon grinned at the prospect of beating up more trash. "And how could you prove that? You're trash too."

Was that a shorty insult? Ed couldn't wait to kill this guy. "If I beat you up, then I guess you're the trash." He slid into his fighting stance and grinned manically at the kid.

Agon smirked and not even a second later, was driving a fist into Edward's belly. _Hah. He left himself wide open._ Then the target flew away and Ed back-flipped away from Agon and his fellow players and down the alleyway. "Come on, is that all?" And he was still grinning!

Agon charged in again, this time aiming for the boy's face. Again, the target disappeared as Edward ducked and brought his hand to hit Agon under the chin. The taller boy jerked back but Ed used the momentum of his falied punch to jump up and try to get him with an aerial kick.

Agon chopped down on his legs, hoping to send Edward flying down, but instead the blond used the momentum to switch direction and hammer a double fist on top of Agon's head. This time, he landed the blow. _Ah, so he can't dodge what he can't see? Good to know._

The three punks had shifted enough so they could watch the fight. It was amazing! Every time you think you had him, Ed would dodge or turn your blow against you! After the hit landed on Agon's head, Ed pushed off with his hands and back-flipped again, landing neatly on his feet. "I thought you'd be better than this." He shrugged. "Oh well." His grin made Agon's pupils shrink until they almost vanished. Who did this hunk of trash think he was? He charged at the boy again, getting right in his face to deliver one of his devastating chops to the kid's neck. But with his face so close to Edward's he didn't see the incoming fist until-

Crunch! Agon howled and clutched his broken nose, glaring at the boy as he helped the other pieces of trash to their feet. Ed took one look at the older boy and laughed. "You got so angry that you didn't even notice that until it hit you. But you're a good fighter, I'd like to spar with you sometime. What's your name?"

Agon wiped away the blood under his nose and looked down the broken feature at the kid. "Like I'd tell trash like you."

Ed grinned. "If I'm trash, what are you?" And he left, helping the others boys out of the alley to where the rest of the Deimon Devil Bats waited.

**Yes! The first confrontation between Agon and Edward! How was the fight scene? I'm really bad at fight scenes, so I'm kind of worried about this one.**

**Thank you for the lovely reviews yesterday!**


	29. Sphinx vs Devil Bats

The day after the incident at the restaurant, Hiruma herded everyone into the gym after they'd changed into their practice clothes to test their bench presses. "Aw…" Sena complained. "This is my worst."

"Yeah, but didn't you haul all those steel beams?" Said Monta, miming lifting one. He'd been Sena's partner in that part of the training.

Still Sena was hesitant. "Not too much weight, okay? Start with 20 kilos."

Monta walked over to the weights rack and went to pick up the weights. Then Ed nudged him with his elbow and pointed at a different set. Monta grinned and grabbed the weights for Sena. He put them on the bar and waited for Sena's best shot. "Nngh!" He gripped the pole and pushed up. "Aargh!" It lifted over the brackets and Sena held it for a few seconds before letting it fall back into the brackets. "I did it," he said as he breathed out and relaxed. "Just barely 20 kilos."

Monta grinned. "That wasn't 20 kilos." Sena looked up at him, slightly confused. "Actually, I put 40 kilos on there for you." Mamori and the two pipsqueaks celebrated while Kurita and Ed got the three punks ready for their bench presses. Jumonji glanced over at Edward helping get the weights on for Togano. He'd put up a much better fight than the three of them put together. _I'll rise to his level. I'll beat those Taiyo linemen!_ He pushed up and lifted the 90 kilos in the brackets along with his two friends.

Mamori cheerfully wrote down the new numbers. _Huh, a 25 kilo increase. I wonder what made then work so hard._ Then she noticed how they were all looking to the right. He glanced over, expected Komusubi, but it was Edward instead. Were they mad at him too? Probably. She shrugged, not giving it that much thought. The blond had probably done something to anger them, but as long as he stayed away from Sena, there was nothing for her to worry about. She had a different blond to keep in line about that.

Ed noted the change and shrugged, grinning. "Equivalent Exchange."

"Hey, we improved our numbers!" Kuroki said.

"Yeah, but there's more to it. Remember yesterday?" They all nodded yes to Jumonji's question. "We need skills." He turned to Kurita. "Teach us. What do we need to do to dominate the line? I don't want to keep losing all the time."

One week after Jumonji uttered that statement, the Deimon Devil Bats entered the territory of the Sphinx.

And man, the weather matched the theme. "It's so hot," complained Sena. "If only we didn't have to play on a day like today."

_He's complaining?! _Ed grumbled internally. _He should try walking around in this heat with metal screwed into his shoulder and see how he likes it._ But he didn't dare let on to the others, so he just walked along like the rest of them and tried to ignore the outrageous architecture. Who in their right mind wanted Egyptian statues randomly floating around campus? These people were clearly insane.

`They made it to their side of the field a little later. Ed hid in the shade while Kurita and the others put together the poles and different joints they'd brought from Deimon. "What is this we're building?" Sena asked as he hauled another pole over to the construct.

"It's a tower so you can see formations and everything from high above," Kurita answered as he finished shoving the last pole into place. "Look, the other team has one too." Sena glanced at the other side of the field and his jaw dropped at the huge pyramid framework.

"Wow! It's huge!" Monta gaped at the tower.

Edward got up and walked over. "Of course it's huge. This is their home field, so they didn't have to build it today. Plus, they have more players to put it together."

But the other team couldn't resist teasing the Devil Bats. "Deimon's tower is puny! Maybe it's relative to the size of something else?" They laughed at the dirty joke.

And of course, Ed took it a completely different way. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO PUNY THAT HE WOULD NEED A TOWER THE SIZE OF EVEREST TO LOOK A FLEA IN THE EYE!?" _What I wouldn't give for Scar's deconstruction arm right now. That tower would be going down! _Then he heard a cell phone beeping. When the ladder truck showed up, Ed did a roundhouse kick in the air and two back hand springs to celebrate.

Hiruma shouted, "Taiyo's tower is so puny." Ed sniggered behind his hand as the quarterback continued. "What did you say it was relative to?"

But Kurita was far from happy. The poor guy wouldn't stop shaking, even as Mamori offered him a water bottle. "Kurita, are you nervous?" She asked the big teenager.

This of course drew Hiruma's and by extension Ed's attention. "What are you so worked up about?"

"You know, the Taiyo Sphinx, Everyone knows about their linemen," he mumbled. "They've got the fiercest line, especially that third year, Banba!"

Ed looked over and saw the behemoth. He reminded Ed of a certain blond major, but more serious. "What's his bench press?"

"145 Kilos. But he holds the high school record for the squat." Okay, this was a pretty serious opponent.

Edward thought about his own bench press. "So he can lift 20 more than me. What was your Bench press, Kurita?"

The trembling quieted a little. "160."

Ed shrugged and put his hands behind his head. "Then I don't know what you're worried about." He sauntered off to tape his flesh and blood limbs, leaving behind a less cowed Kurita.

"We've got to win!" Sena look up at the big boy, surprised. "The Sphinx is strong, but if our line's no good, we'll never make it to the Christmas Bowl!" _He looks so determined, _Sena thought to himself. _Then again, that's been his dream since middle school. _He looked back at the other team. Sure, they were big enough to crush him with one hand. But he wasn't the only one on that field today. He looked up at Kurita and back at Edward. _We won't lose!_

**Please review! I love getting all your comments! I may get fanart for this story soon.**


	30. Laughter is the Best Medicine

Deimon took the field to defend. Taiyo's linemen loomed over them, glaring like the giant pyramids of Egypt. The Devil line sweated bullets. Ed blew his bangs out of the way and shouted, "Hey!" The line stiffened. "The Americans are three times that big! These chumps are pipsqueaks compared to what we have to face. Knock 'em down!"

The ball was snapped back and the Deimon line leapt forward, grabbing their marks and pushing with all they had. Kurita struggled against Banda. He pushed and pushed, but there wasn't even the slightest shift. _They don't budge at all!_

Jumonji snarled as the fat head from earlier in the week pushed against him and goaded, "Hehehe, such light weights! You guys really are douchebags!" That just made Jumonji push harder.

"Pass complete!" The linemen gave up when they heard that and crumpled.

Taiyo's number 88 ran up the field with the ball. "I'm gonna make a touchdown!" _Not Quite, _Ed laughed to himself as he saw Sena tackle the boy to the ground before he could reach the 30-yard mark. _You can have your immovable buildings. We'll just fly right over them._

The quarterback and fat head loomed over the downed Kurita. "Did you think your team could even compare with a line such as ours? You're such a big guy." And there they just rubbed in the salt. "You shouldn't be staring at the blue sky right at the start of the game."

But Banba wasn't so sure about the Taiyo superiority. "Deimon's line isn't much opposition, but their backs are pretty fast."

Kasamatsu grinned shakily. "Isn't it enough to win with our line? We'll advance by sheer force."

When they set up for the next play, Hiruma eyed his quaking center lineman. "That fatty!" He growled out, "He's completely lost his nerve!"

"Hut!" The ball was thrown back to the quarterback and the whole Taiyo line threw themselves at their opponents. The result was a Deimon line flat on their backs." The crowd on the Taiyo side of the field roared with laughter at the completely humiliated linemen. Kasamatsu laughed so hard he cried while Harao, stared with distain and the Deimon line. "They're so pitiful; I'm starting to feel sorry for them."

Laughter rang out over the field again, but this time it came from the Deimon side. Ed had gotten up from the place where he'd tackled the Taiyo runningback and was laughing fit to burst. "I can't believe this! Your backfield stinks!" Harao's eyes widened and Hiruma whipped his head around so hard it almost came off. "Your runningback only got three yards before I tackled him! And you!" he pointed straight at the quarterback. "You take forever to throw your passes. You're sissies at anything but the line!" Now Monta and Satake started laughing. "I can't wait to see what your defense against Eyeshield 21 and me looks like. We'll run you into the ground!" Now the whole Deimon team was laughing, loud and obnoxious or just plain giggling. Ed decided to take it up a notch. "And our line's going easy on you right now! We've got a ton of techniques you don't know about."

The same thing popped into three linemen's heads. _The trip-up method. _The brothers grinned as they remembered the hours of practice they'd spent perfecting those two deadly techniques. Edward was right, it was time to turn this around.

But they never got the chance to use either of them. Taiyo kept hitting them straight on and knocking them on their backs. The gains were tiny, usually smaller than five yards, but they kept piling up until Taiyo was right outside their end zone. Kuroki, Togano, and Jumonji let themselves sink into the turf after they'd been knocked flat again. "That's funny, I can't hear the fans anymore," Jumonji commented. He propped himself up on his elbows as the other two did the same. He glared at the fat head who seemed to take particular pleasure in knocking them around. "Now that we've been humiliated this badly, it doesn't matter how many times we get knocked down." All three roared forward towards their starting positions. "Let's get that jerk!"

On the next play, Kasamatsu was almost forced to step back. Jumonji kept a mantra going in his head. _Knees bent, feet farther apart than normal, push low at their center of gravity. _Harao hurried and passed to the receiver in the end zone, but it made him nervous. When the touchdown was announced, the Deimon line left and walked back to their side of the field.

Banba looked down at his feet. There were grooves in the ground from where Kurita had forced him back. This worried him.

Ed couldn't help but grin. "Hey, sphinx." Harao and Kasamatsu turned around. "You've only got one touchdown, and it's our turn to attack now. Think your lousy backfield can handle us?" Banba looked past the short blond and at the whole of the Devil Bats behind him. "That is, unless you're too slow to catch us."

Kasamatsu growled, "What did you say?"

Ed flung his hands out in a dismissive gesture. "You guys are only good at staying in one place." He turned away and sauntered back to his teammates. "I mean, there's only one guy who actually moves on your whole team, the rest of you just stand there and push." Kasamatsu got even madder. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I hurt the fat head's feelings?"

"Fat…Head," Sena repeated. He looked at Monta before both of them burst out laughing. "He really does have a fat head!"

The player in question charged towards them, but Banba grabbed him. "Do not attack. We will crush them on the field." The lineman walked back to his side of the field, still peeved at the fat head joke.

Hiruma grinned at his revitalized team. That shrimp seemed to take any adversary and remove the fearful element. When they huddle up for their first offensive play, he said, "Here's how we're going to run circles around them."

**I ditched a lot of the serious parts in this section of the book in favor of fun. But I loved the parts where Ed just laughs at the other team! It is completely something he would do!**

**Please Review!**


	31. Trip-Up Method

They lined up on the field again, Banba against Kurita. But before anyone started the huts, the Taiyo lineman admitted, "I'm sorry…I thought we could overpower the likes of your line with brute strength. You said you name was Kurita, right?" the other boy nodded, trembling just a bit. He was still scared, after all. "I'll admit you have some skill. I'll have to go at you with my full arsenal of techniques."

Hiruma yelled "Hut!" and the ball went back through Kurita's legs to his best friend. The big boy charged forward with arms held straight out, hoping to block Banba before he could get to Hiruma. But he wasn't there. Then the center felt something against his arm. Banba has his elbow against his arm! With a forceful pull, he sent Kurita flying and sacked Hiruma before he could throw the ball to anyone.

But this time, Banba did not let his teammates celebrate. He got them straight into another huddle to plan, because Hiruma made the right call, and if what the blond kid had said earlier was right, they might be in serious trouble.

"Hut!" Sena ran forward for the feint and squeezed through the line as if he really did have the ball. The backfield scrambled, not knowing if they should go after Sena or stay where they were. Sena almost laughed right there. Edward had been right! No one even noticed Monta running up the other side of the field! The Kasamatsu got pat Jumonji's black and it looked like Hiruma would just get sacked again when a certain blond leapt in from the leg and knocked the fat head into the dirt with a tackle that made the Deimon team wince. And the perfect name for that tackle move popped into Hiruma's head.

The quarterback threw the ball straight to the already in position Monta. And then the monkey just had to show off and give their opponents another chance to score. Edward Almost climbed the crane to punch the idiot receiver.

Deimon lined up to defend yet again. This time, Edward was right at the front with Monta and the others covered the sides and back. "Hut!" the ball went back to Harao and the Deimon line pushed. For the first time in a long time, the whole Taiyo line skidded backwards. No one, not Banba, not Kasamatsu, held their ground as the line they'd thrown on their backs only minutes ago forced them to back up. The runner didn't even get all the way through the line before he was immediately tackled by Deimon's number 30. "One yard gain!"

The teams walked back to their designated sides and Hiruma watched the conversation between Banba and Harao with fascination. "Alright, I think the fatty's made an impression." They huddled up. "Now's your chance," he said to the three Hah brothers. "Use the technique."

They lined up yet again against the others, with Jumonji on the far right going up against the fat head and Togano and Kuroki on the opposite end. The lines began their battle. "You little douchebags!" Kasamatsu shouted at the oldest of the punks, "I'll show you the real difference between us!" But Jumonji wasn't listening, he was looking at the boy's stance. One leg was in close, but the other was behind the other, a good thirteen inches behind. It was enough.

"You want to know the difference?" Jumonji stuck his foot in the gap. "I know how to balance." Then he twisted his foot and knocked Kasamatsu's front foot off balance. The big lunk flailed for a moment and crashed into the lineman next to him, sending that player right into Banba's side. The linemen on Banba's opposite side crashed into him as well, the result of a double Trip-Up from Kuroki and Togano. The Taiyo center crumbled under the combined weight of the four other linemen and Kurita's incredible strength. The pyramid line had crumbled.

Jumonji ran past the crumbled pyramid line and knocked the ball right out of the Taiyo quarterback's hands. Instantly, players from both teams leapt for the ball, Taiyo hoping to keep their offensive momentum, Deimon praying for a chance to go on the offensive. That was when Komusubi dove beneath every other player and nabbed the treasure buried under the pile of players. He tossed it up into the air, hoping someone would catch it in time. The ball flew up to the sky before descending and bouncing a few times. It came to rest in the grass and theTaiyo runningback ran right for it. "Taiyo is more than just the front line! We've also got spee-" A certain blond talked the loudmouth to the side to clear a path for Eyeshield 21 as he raced in and scooped up the ball. Ed untangled himself from the mediocre runningback and took off after Sena, ready to handle any other opposition.

The entire Taiyo line was waiting for them, but before Sena could get within range of the behemoths, the Deimon linemen stepped into the line of tackling and held back the striped team. "Don't worry about their size," Kurita shouted to the two runningbacks as he pushed yet another player out of the way to make the path. Sena saw the path it was just big enough. He squeezed his way through with the ball in his arms and Edward right on his heels. He exited the crack in the wall and for a moment, thought he was home free. But he still had one more opponent. Banba loomed over him.

Sena halted. Should he go to the side and end the play? Or should he try and get past Banba? The path past the hulking lineman was so skinny, he wasn't sure he could make it. Certainly not without getting hurt.

Then a blond braid streaked past him and the path past this last opponent was a lot wider. "Go!" Ed shouted at the smaller boy from where he held the blocker at least twice his size. Sena did, and made it all the way to the end zone, to the shock of most of the fans and certainly the Football Monthly staff present. Sena looked around the field, at everyone who'd just helped him get there. _Football isn't scary, it's fun! _He thought.

Ed let go of Banba and the older boy's eyes followed him. He'd thought Kurita was the only real threat to the line, but they'll all just been knocked down and the runningback, who'd looked like he'd break with one tackle, had held him off. If they weren't very careful, they would lose this game, simply because they had underestimated their opponents.

**I never liked the Juvenile Delinquent Murder Method, so I replaced it with my own. Remember when Ed was telling them to keep their feet close together, that's where this move originated.**

**Please Review!**


	32. A Whole New Game

They lined up again, this time with Edward facing the fat head. Kasamatsu sized up his shorter opponent. _If I rush him right away, I can crush him from the top. Then he won't have time to trip me! _The ball changed hands and Kasamatsu ran forward to crush the pipsqueak when suddenly there was nothing in front of him. "Six yard loss!" the referee yelled. Kasamatsu turned around.

Edward had tackled Harao.

Hiruma cackled at the Taiyo lineman's shocked expression. That was the beauty of this play. He'd known the fat head wouldn't want to risk another humiliating trip-up, so he'd charge in, thinking to get the drop on his opponent, which was why he'd switched Ed into that position. The kid had done exactly what Hiruma told him to, let the other player rush at him and move to the side at the last second, bypassing the line entirely and sacking the quarterback before he could even begin to aim. It had been a brilliantly devilish plan, and Edward had pulled it off perfectly.

They continued to shift their blocking, using trap blocks, regular rushing, and the Trip-Up method in turns. Taiyo's linemen scrambled to keep up with their varied opponents while the Devil Bats racked up the points. At halftime, the score stood at 13 to 18, with Deimon in the lead.

Needless to say the fans were somewhat shocked, as well as the Football Monthly Editor in Chief. Kumabukuro wasn't as surprised, though. "It's 6 to 4, the ratio of the strength of their lines. Taiyo's strength is still overwhelming compared to theirs, but Deimon's use of key players is shaking up the Taiyo line." The other editor wanted to interrupt and interject how superior Taiyo was, but the other journalist kept talking. "Their backfields are about 8 to 2. Deimon's almost completely outpaced them, especially numbers 80 and 30, plus that Eyeshield kid. He looked over at the red team with interest. Was this the rise of another great team? Perhaps one that could actually provide a fight for the Americans?

"You cowards!" Harao shouted at his dispirited teammates. "How can you allow yourselves to be pushed backed and tricked by such a pitiful front line?! Deimon is winning this battle, and by five points!"

"S-sorry," stammered out a cowed Kasamatsu.

Banba stirred enough from his seat on the bench to caution, "calm down, Harao."

"How can I be calm," the quarterback yelled.

"Just quiet down," the bigger student again admonished.

"It is your job to protect the quarterback-"

Then Banba glared at the noisy player. "I told you to quiet down." Harao quieted down, except for the sound of his whole body trembling.

Hiruma glanced towards the other side of the field where Banba was helping the quarterback with his grip. His hand tensed around the water bottle in it. "Now we won't be able to make him drop the ball when we sack him." He ran the problem through his head a few times before he remembered the almost instant tackle Edward had delivered to the receiver earlier in the game. Hi smile widened as he turned to his team to explain their new approach. "All right you guys. This time, go straight for intercepting his passes.

Banba listened to the small receiver tucked into his ear as the manager atop the pyramid relayed the information about Deimon's tactics. "Eyeshield will advance on the run a bit, it can't be helped. If we keep our line strong and put extra players on the wild card 30, we can keep them from getting long yardage that way. But we need to contain number 80 or we'll lose more points to their passing."

Banba nodded. "We should bring out Kamaguruma."

When the two teams lined up for the second half, half of Taiyo's backfield crowded around the left where Edward was stationed and Monta faced down the so called Chariot. Hiruma watched as Edward was mobbed and the monkey set off balance by the Chariot Bump. What kind of a name was that for a move? His names were far more terrifying. He threw the ball into an empty space and the incomplete pass was called.

The cornerback did it again the next play and control of the ball shifted to Taiyo. Edward walked up to Hiruma. "Put me on the chariot dude."

Hiruma scowled at the blond. "What are you going to do?"

Edward answered with a grin and whispered his plan into the quarterback's ear. Hiruma grinned demonically as they huddled up and he explained the plan to the rest of the team.

They lined up normally, with Sena at the very back, Monta on the left staring down the other team's giant of a receiver, and Edward halfway between the quarterback and receiver. Banba was a little worried by Edward's placement, especially since they were planning to pass the ball to Kamaguruma, but reasoned that the boy was too short to intercept the pass.

"Hut!" The line held as the Taiyo receiver ran down the field and Harao aimed, keeping the ball low until the second he threw. Kamaguruma caught the ball.

And then it went wrong.

Banba cursed himself for underestimating his opponent yet again as he watched the blond wild card jump three feet into the air and knock the ball clean out of Kamaguruma's inexperienced hands. Quickly, the Deimon receiver seized the ball out of the air and handed it off to the incoming Eyeshield 21, just as Edward let go of the tackled Sphinx player and ran in front of the short runningback, right up the left side. The Taiyo center lineman raced to intercept the charging duo.

Ed looked ahead at the field. Three Taiyo players stood between them and the end zone. First two of the smaller backfield players who'd run up when they saw the direction of the pass as backup if it didn't quite reach the new kid. Then the hulking lineman headed in their direction. He hoped Sena was up for the challenge.

Tossed with an elbow in the small of his back, the first Taiyo player fell. Ed faced the second one head-on and blocked, forcing the boy to step back and out of Sena's way. But that left Banba, and Edward was not here to protect him this time. Sena stared at the arms spread wide to tackle him. He could run off to the side now and not have to face the pain. Or he could go to the right and try to get past him.

If he went right, there was a chance the older boy wouldn't catch him. He might be able to outrun him. But Banba might tackle him, like Shin had during his second game. Then he remembered a different detail about that second game. _Two good legs and all you do is run away?_ Sena swerved away from the sideline and to the right of the Egyptian behemoth. Of course, Banba caught him with one arm and threw him to the ground, but Sena landed with a smile on his face. If everyone else could fight, so could he.

He wasn't just someone's gofer anymore. Now he had teammates who worked as hard as he did, who counted on him to fight just as hard. So what if he got stopped? He'd still tried and had a fun time doing it. _Football isn't scary, it's fun!_

**Whew! Almost done with the Taiyo game. It's really hard to balance those critical character moments when Ed's in there, because he removes a lot of those situations just by being awesome. But I love coming up with original plays, like Ed sneaking past Kasamatsu and the triple threat play.**

**Please Review! I really love your comments!**


	33. Second Victory

Hiruma grinned at his teammates. The line was working perfectly with the alternating placements, and Edward's Trip-Up method had them falling over themselves. Then he noticed Monta's face. The monkey boy looked like his dog died. "Next play is a long pass to the monkey!"

"But I've been…" he moaned out, "completely overwhelmed by his bump."

"Did you say overwhelmed?" Hiruma could deal with idiots, but this was ridiculous. "Do you not even understand your own position?" Ed almost laughed out loud at Hiruma's exasperated face.

"The receiver's game is different from our concentrated trench warfare," Kurita helpfully added.

The quarterback glared at the monkey. "Ignore the bump! Just run up the field! The whole field is your playground. Got that, number 80?" _And it finally dawns on him, _Hiruma thought as he saw the pipsqueak's face light up.

Again, the two teams lined up on the field with Monta facing Kamaguruma. But Ed noticed that he wasn't trembling or sweating from nerves. He still thought Hiruma should have put him on protection duty for the squirt, but if Monta didn't fight this battle now, when would he? Better to face your lions early on and get it over with.

The ball changed hands and Monta ran forward, only for the bigger kid to bump him again. But this time Monta dug his heels into the turf. "I'm going out to my playground!" He dodged his opponent and ran up the field. There were only twelve yards between them and the endzone. But long passes took time. The line had to hold until Monta was far enough down the field that a pass to him would be successful. "It's your job to shore up the defenses," Hiruma had told Edward. "Whatever Taiyo lineman gets close to breaking through, double team him." Komusubi was having a little trouble with his Taiyo counterpart, so Ed raced up and pushed again the guy's upper half while Komusubi tackled his stomach area. The line held and Hiruma tossed the ball.

Kamaguruma saw the ball flying through the air. He could already imagine what Harao and Banba would say to him if Deimon managed to score on them again, he'd already lost the ball in the last play thanks to a trio of pipsqueaks that were less than half his height! This catch couldn't happen! The cornerback put on an extra burst of speed and threw his elbow into the other receiver's back. "Chariot attack!"

The move threw the shorter boy through the air, but he didn't land in a heap like the Taiyo player had hoped. Instead, he rolled down the field and the ball vanished into the whirlwind of Deimon catcher. Had he caught the ball? Was it on the field somewhere?

Then Monta rolled into the end zone and sat up. The ball was clamped in one hand. "From now on, in all of Japan-No, the whole world-, I'll be the best receiver."

"Touchdown!" Then the buzzer sounded and the game ended. The score was Deimon, 24 to 13. They would be playing the Americans.

Once the Devil Bats finished celebrating their victory, Sena noticed everyone else leaving. "Hey, what's going on?"

Hiruma hoisted his sports bag onto his shoulder. "Do you really think that many people came just to see our game?"

Ed was about to answer yes when Kurita said, "Since it's so close to Enoshima, we were the opening act."

Ed grumbled. He hated playing second fiddle, especially to people like Mustang. "Then what's the main event?"

"The battle between Ojo and Shinryuji!"

As they rode the monorail to the small island where the game took place, Edward asked Hiruma, "So what's the deal with Shinryuji?"

The other blond scowled. "They've never lost a tournament. They're the champs. Ojo's been trying to beat them for years, and they almost had them last year." Hiruma gritted his teeth. "Then they pulled out their aces, Agon and Unsui. It was an easy win for the Nagas after that."

"Why," Ed asked.

"Agon's a genius. His reaction time is faster than any other person's, so he's amazing at whatever he does."

Ed relaxed and put his hand behind his head. "Sounds like he'll be fun to play."

Hiruma glared at the boy next to him. "Don't underestimate him. Ojo was in the middle of its golden generation when Agon beat them. There was less than five minutes left when he went onto the field and scored two touchdowns."

"Hm." Ed shrugged and brushed himself off. "Well, he'll play today, so I guess I'll get a better look at this guy. Until then, I'll take your word for it."

When they got off the train, the crowds were already massive. "Outta my way! Move it!" The yells came from a wheelchair that seconds later screeched past Edward and between Monta and Sena. He grinned at the smile and shouts from the boy. Mustang would have said there was fire in him, but Ed thought he was just happy to be at the game.

The two boys looked after the wheelchair and the one pushing it. "He seems to be doing well," Sena commented.

"You know that kid?"

"Yes, from when we went to visit Sakuraba in the hospital," Sena answered Ed. "It looks like they came to watch the game, since Sakuraba still can't play."

"Oh yeah," Ed chuckled. "He was the one you 'homicide tackled'."

Sena blushed at the memory and quickly stammered out that he hadn't meant to, but Edward just laughed and told the boy he'd been joking.

Ed looked around the field. Unlike most of the Deimon games, this place was packed to the brim. Three different news stations were there with cameramen and reporters, and the staff of Football Monthly had already found a place to sit on the sidelines. Ed even saw a place designated for scouts only. Now, if only his team to get this kind of turnout.

Ed jabbed Hiruma, pointed to the Nagas on the other side of the field, and asked, "which one's Agon?"

Hiruma put away the rifle he'd wanted to fire in retaliation for the jab and scanned the other players. "He's not here yet. Still," he looked around at the journalists and scouts, "we could use the publicity." He sent Sena off to get into uniform and Edward watched the game with the rest of them. He felt like flinching every time the other team scored on their rival. It didn't hurt as much as when one of his friends had gotten hurt back in Amestris, but it still hurt to watch.

When Sena turned up at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the boy was shaking on his feet and not in the Eyeshield getup, although Hiruma didn't shoot him since Mamori had been with him the whole time. Hiruma glanced at the sidelines and jabbed Edward with his own elbow. Relishing the minor revenge he said, "that's him," and pointed to the boy with dreadlocks.

What Edward did next was completely unexpected.

**OK, since that's a rather cruel cliffy, if I get five reviews, I'll post the next chapter today.**


	34. Descaling the Dragon

He laughed. "You're terrified of Mop Head? The guy's not even playing."

Hiruma glared at Edward. "He's called a genius."

Edward put his hands behind his head and started walking away. "Yeah, yeah." Then the crowd on the other side of the field roared to life. "What now?" He looked back at the field and raced to the guard rail to get a better look. Was that cornerback…running backwards? "Who's that?"

"Ikkyu. His time is 4.9 seconds running backwards."

Ed nodded. "That's pretty good. Hey Monta!" the monkey boy looked at him. "That's who you have to be better than! Think you can take it?" Monta nodded fervently. Edward turned back to the field with a grin. "That's Ikkyu taken care of."

Still, the other team scored on them again. Ed could hear Takami talking to their coach. "We've got nothing left."

"Coach, there is only one weapon left to turn this around." Shin walked forward and asked, "Please allow me to use the Ballista."

Monta asked ,"What's a ballista?"

"I'm pretty sure it's used to launch heavy projectiles, like a spear log. It's a siege weapon for breaking down walls." Yukimistu described the giant crossbow to the two midgets while Edward ran the specifics through his head. If the spear was Shin, and you launched it against the enemy's line…Wait! It was exactly what Sena and he used all the time!

The ballista was a play where Shin and probably a few other players went ahead of the person carrying the ball and broke through the enemy line to give the runner a straight shot at the end zone. It was probably more complicated than that, Ed guessed, but those were the basics for the move, he was almost certain. It was a shame the coach thought it wasn't ready. Ed would have loved to see it in action.

As it was, Shin broke through the center of the Naga line in the next play and sacked the quarterback. But before the next play started, Ed saw the Naga receiver talking to the quarterback. _They'll go for a pass on this next one. _But Ikkyu didn't get very far. Edward's hand started to itch. It was so similar to the move he'd pulled during the Taiyo game, but without the outside help. What would it be like if he and the other Devil Bats got to Shin's level?

And what would the knights be like if they had more than just Shin? Edward compared the two teams. He and Shin were almost on equal footing, but Ojo didn't have someone like Monta for passes. People could delude themselves about the blond model, but he had nothing on the Deimon monkey. And Hiruma's devilish plays gave the Bats options and used each player to their full potential. The only thing Ojo had that they didn't was a kicker. And considering the way Hiruma liked to play, they didn't really need one.

If Ojo battled the new Deimon, they might just lose.

Ed looked at the scoreboard as the whistle signaled the end of the game. Nagas, 41 to 3. If he went up against that Agon, and Monta and Sena worked together against Ikkyu, then maybe…

Shoting interrupted Edward's thoughts. "Look here, Shinryuki!" It was the kid in the wheelchair. "You only won today because Sakuraba was just out of the hospital! In the fall he'll have enough strength to defeat you fools!" He kept shouting, not noticing the ire of one of the players on the opposite team. "Shinryuki fools! Losers!" Ed saw Agon grab one of the footballs from the basket and took off running, not noticing Sena, Monta, and surprisingly Sakuraba also picking up speed.

The ball whistled through the air straight for the young boy's legs. Agon smirked and waited to the scream. But it didn't come. He looked back down at the target zone and saw the Ojo receiver and another boy holding the ball. Trash. Couldn't they let him crush noisy trash? But he could still enjoy the shell shocked look on the kid's face. He looked behind the two students and saw-

Nothing.

He scanned the field for the brat and when he found him, his blood boiled. Pushing the kid away from Agon was that grinning brat who'd broken his nose and another kid. He stormed down onto the field and surprised everyone by running up to the blond who stepped in front of the wheelchair-bound boy. "What are you doing here," he snarled at the blond short stack.

Edward grinned at him, ignoring the trembling Sena next to him. "Taking a look at the competition. You don't look like much. Oh, didn't I tell you?" Ed tapped his chin in mock confusion. "I'm the linebacker and Tight End for the Deimon Devil Bats. We'll probably meet up at the fall season." He pushed the kid a few yards before looking back. "I like your nose."

Agon would have leapt after him and beaten the trashy kid to a pulp, but three of his teammates grabbed him from behind and forced him back to the other side of the field. If he met that pipsqueak in the Fall Tournament, he would crush him into the ground.

The kid grumbled to himself. "If it wasn't for that stupid accident, I'd been able to dodge."

"So you're not permanently like this?" Ed asked the kid.

"Of course not! As soon as I get out of this thing, I'm gonna play football."

Ed shrugged. "Why wait? You can start building up your arms right now. Hey Sakuraba," he yelled to the other team's player. "Isn't this your kid?"

The model ran over, apologizing fervently, and wheeled Torakichi back over to the exit to get him back to the hospital. Everyone packed up and headed back to their respective schools, media stations, and homes. The Spring Kanto Football Tournament was over. Now the Fall Tournament was at the front of everyone's minds, including the Devil Bats.

But first, they had to get past the Americans.

**I might have made Agon a tad OOC by making him storm across the field and confront Edward directly, but I liked that part a lot.**

**Please Review! Oh, and I'm probably going to switch to updates every two days.**


	35. Kicking

"So that's what he said? Heh, that's interesting." Hiruma smiled demonically at the two magazine editors. So, the Americans thought the Japanese were suck-ups and doormats? It would be so much fun to beat them into the ground. "We can't allow it. I won't let any opponent of the Devil Bats get away with having that kind of attitude!"

So the next day, he walked around filming his team doing various things. Monta was easy enough to convince, and the other situations he just got started. Edward and Sena he filmed during practice and watched with glee as the team dug into the chicken. This would ruffle the American's feathers.

A few days later, Apollo was hanging out in his posh office when one of his employees entered the room. "Coach Apollo, looks like it's an emergency message from the Devil Bats." He set a slim package down on the man's desk.

"Devil Bats," the arrogant man asked as he slid the DVD out of its paper casing. "Oh yeah, the Japanese team, right?" He clicked the DVD into his laptop and brought it up on the screen. It was probably another video begging him to play, or maybe they'd finally given in and performed that show.

A large graphic appeared on the screen, with Deimon Devil Bats vs. Nasa Aliens written in bold underneath the two teams' mascots, getting ready to fight. Then Apollo popped up on the screen. "We're looking forward to the Aliens playing the Devil Bats in Tokyo in June." Nothing new there, he'd said the same thing during the phone conversation a few weeks ago.

Then a girl popped up on the screen with a sheet of paper. What was… "But when Coach Apollo found out how good the Devil Bats are, his attitude changed completely."

Then Apollo was back on the screen, only this time, he was just a head on a chicken. The reference was not lost on him. "No Way! We're gonna lose! I'm scared of the Devil Bats!" His face couldn't have been more pinched if you shoved a lemon down his throat. "Thinking about it makes me wet myself!"

Ed laughed and laughed as Hiruma showed the team the final product of the movie making. Monta the monkey, the Hah brothers' expressions, the part where Sena chased the chicken Apollo right into one of Edward's Devil Bat Claw tackles, as Hiruma now called it, it was all perfect. And when it showed the shot of everyone supposedly eating the cooked and fried Apollo, Edward almost fell out of his seat.

On the other side of the world, the Aliens' coach did not share his humor. "It the Aliens don't crush the Devil Bats by at least ten points, I'll never set foot on American soil again!"

The magazine editors of course relayed the sentiment to Hiruma, who chuckled in a way that meant certain death for his teammates, or at least great pain. "Oh ho! That's interesting! Well, if the Devil Bats don't crush the Aliens by at least ten points," his smiled widened, "you can deport us all from Japan that very day!"

The next day, after everyone went home with passports in hand and shaking from fear of the threat, Hiruma held Edward back. "Why didn't you have paperwork?"

Edward froze momentarily, but relaxed just as quickly. "What're you talking about? What paperwork?"

Hiruma brandished the passport for Edward in front of the blond's face. "No birth certificate, ID, no driver's license. There's not a single document for you."

Ed grabbed the passport. "How'd you make this, then?"

"It took a lot of blackmail. Answer the question."

"You don't want to know." Ed walked out the locker room door but the quarterback grabbed his shoulder before he could get outside. He sighed and pulled up his right sleeve. "Really, you don't." Hiruma let go of Ed's shoulder and the boy vanished into the night.

The next morning, Edward walked into the school yard early after he'd finished his daily martial arts practice. _Maybe I can practice blocking with Kurita. _He turned the corner onto the field and stopped dead. The whole team was already there, even the Hah brothers! _I guess that passport threat really worked._ Jumonji, Kuroki, and the other linemen were ramming their equipment so hard Edward could hear the smack of flesh on leather all the way on the other side of the field. Of course, when Hiruma let loose with his guns at the three practicing backwards running, the sound was drowned out.

He leaned his bag against the fence and walked up to the quarterback. "Where am I today?"

Hiruma pointed to the side of the field opposite of where the linemen were working. The kicking tee sat in the grass next to a basket of footballs. "Try to get your kicking down."

"Just try to kick it through the goal posts?"

"Didn't you hear me the first time?" Hiruma leveled the barrel of his gun at the kid.

Ed waved him off. "Yeah, okay. Sheesh." He walked over to the tee and set up the first ball. First, he tried just a normal kick to the front. It launched the ball into the air alright, but it fell short of the big poles at the end of the field. _Guess I need to use a little more power. _He put more thrust into the kick, but it went too far right, even if it did get past the goal posts this time. Well, he knew how to do the other stuff. It was about time he had a challenge.

Kurita looked up from his blocking for a moment and saw Edward sending the balls into the air with varying degrees of success. His face fell. He'd been so hopeful that they could get Musashi back on the team, but his best friend didn't think so. Hiruma had given up on their third player a long time ago, although Kurita knew he saved a locker just for Musashi. But he still hoped that… He looked back down at the pad he'd been throwing himself against and started practicing again. He didn't want to think about that right now.

**Yeah, so from now on, it's a chapter update every other day. Please review!**


	36. Musashi

After everyone else left for the day once they'd finished with their lockers-the expressions on Togano's Kuroki's and Jumonji's faces when they saw their new lockers had been priceless-, Edward walked back over to the empty locker and grabbed the kicking tee Mamori had pointed out. He tossed it in the air, caught it and asked a typing Hiruma, "So, why'd you have me practice kicking if you already had one for the team? That guy Musashi seems like a pretty good player, especially if Kotaro looked up to him."

Hiruma didn't look up from his laptop. "Musashi isn't coming back. Devil Bats don't need a kicker that badly anyway."

A smack echoed off the walls of the clubhouse as Ed caught the kicking tee again. "So why'd you have me practice then? I can kick alright, but someone who's trained in it would be better. I'm not as good as Kotaro."

He tossed the tee up again and Hiruma twitched when it landed back in his grip. "We need a kicker for fall, and Musashi isn't coming back."

"Why not? You have a fight or something? Or did you accidentally shoot him?" He tossed the tee up again.

Hiruma snatched it out of the air and glared at the other blond. "It's none of your business."

The alchemist gently smacked the quarterback's hand and sent the kicking tee back into the air. Ed caught it. "Seeing as I'm the replacement kicker, it is. Maybe I'll go find the old carpenter and ask for some tips." He threw the tee over his head and caught it behind his back. Ed smirked at a slightly stunned Hiruma. "I heard what he said to Monta and Sena that time we worked on the clubhouse together. Well, that and the fact that you seemed to know him." Ed threw the tee from behind his back and caught it right in front of his face. "His legs were really muscular too. Especially his right one." Edward set the kicking tee back in the empty locker and picked up his school bag. "I've got training to do tomorrow, so I won't be showing up, for school or practice." He walked out the door leaving a slightly stunned Hiruma eyeing the tee in the locker.

The next day, Edward walked into the construction site near him apartment and asked one of the workers, "Is Gen Takekura here?" The guy pointed towards the figure instructing the crane driver. Edward thanked the worker and walked over.

Gen looked up and saw the shrimp. "Need something?"

"Yeah." Ed crossed his arms and scowled at the older boy who was way too tall to be that young. "I need you to come back to the Devil Bats with me."

Gen turned away from the blond. "I can't."

"Can't or won't?"

He looked back at the Deimon player. The shorter boy his hands on his hips and was glaring at him. He took a look at the boy's legs. "You've got good legs. You could be Deimon's kicker."

"Don't avoid the question!" Edward grabbed the man's tank top and pulled him down so they were at eye level. "Why can't or won't you come back?"

He shook off the boy's left handed grip. "I can't. Look," he continued as the boy started to protest. "I have to keep working, but wait over there and I'll tell you the story at lunch." Then he frowned. "Why aren't you in school?"

Ed shrugged. "I don't need to go to my classes today. I was excused from them." It was true. The only subjects he had today were the ones he'd been excused from at the beginning of the year. He walked over and sat at the edge of the sight on a pile of pipes Gen had pointed out. As he watched the team work, he noticed how everyone came to Gen for instructions, or approval for the next step. The teenager often had his head buried in plans and pointed out sections of the incomplete building to the other workers. By the time Gen took a break and sat down next to the former alchemist, Edward had a pretty good idea of what was going on.

"So," Ed started once the teenager had taken a seat, "What happened to the guy who ran the business before you? It must have been sudden to make you quit the team."

Gen's eyes widened slightly but he decided to answer the question. "My dad got sick. He's the one who ran the business. And we didn't want to workers to be out of a job, so I filled in for him."

He looked over at Edward with a small smile, but Ed scowled at him. "So you traded one team in for a different one, even though Hiruma and Kurita needed you more." Gen opened his mouth to protest. "You can't tell me there was no one else who could have taken your place. There are tons of guys here. Heck, you dad could've run things with a little help. But there were only three Devil Bats." He got up and brushed himself off. "I came here to ask for kicking tips, but learning that's a pain. I'm just going to get you back on the team instead." He grinned as an idea popped into his head. "Why don't you head over to the school? Practice should be finishing up right about now."

Ed walked back out of the construction zone and one of the workers followed him with his eyes. Then he turned to Gen. "You know, if you really wanted to go back…"

"I can't." He tied his bandana back around his head and picked up the plans again to start giving more orders. "Let's start back up." But it didn't change the fact that he stopped by his old high school later, and it didn't stop his heart from jumping when the monkey kid issued his challenge. _Maybe I really would go back. _But no, he had the workers to take care of. But it didn't stop him from helping where he could, even if he had to trash his cigarettes to do it. He didn't like the taste of those things anyway.

**The whole soccer club deal still happened, but this was why Musashi was even there in the first place. Ed put him up to it. I'm still going to wait until his canon entrance, though. Right now I'm writing the American game, and it is TOUGH! Please review!**


	37. Meeting the Other Team

In the following weeks, the team put together the blitzing strategy, starting with some tackling instructions. "The biggest part of it is getting your arms out in front," Ed instructed as he walked up and down the line of rookies. "Whatever you can touch, grab. Shoes, jerseys, feet legs, torso, it's all legal. I checked."

He pointed to Sena. "You don't have to knock them down, just grab them and get close enough to be a problem. For example," he picked a ball out of the basket and held it as if he was going to throw it. "What would you tackle if you wanted to keep me from passing?"

"Is there a difference?" Togano rolled his eyes.

Two seconds later the ball bonked him on the forehead. He glowered at the smug Edward. "Yes. I can still throw if you tackle my ankle. What's the one place you should tackle to stop a pass?" He got into the throwing stance again.

Sena ran his eyes over Edward and his mind through what Hiruma did when he passed. The light bulb went on. "We should tackle the arm!"

Ed grinned. "Exactly. Anywhere else," Ed brought back his arm, "and he has the chance to throw it before he goes down." He sent the ball sailing through the goal posts.

After that, he put the group in pairs, with one to tackle and one to throw. Monta stared down Kuroki. The big boy stood there with the football in his hand. Monta had to keep him from throwing that ball at all. He leapt forward and fastened himself around the bigger kid's waist. Edward blew the whistle he'd borrowed from Mamori and stomped over to the pair. "Arms! We're going for arms." Then he punched Kuroki in the shoulder with his left hand. "Act like a quarterback, but your arm up!" The ex-punk growled, but held his arm out for Monta's next charge.

After Edward taught them each the basic tackling maneuver, Hiruma set up the statue of Homer and let them go at it. Monta rushed it first and targeted the right arm, just like Edward had shown him. Komusubi was too short to reach it, so he knocked over the whole statue by tackling its legs. The three Hah brothers simply knocked it over, but they hit the shoulders and upper arms specifically. Then Sena broke the whole thing to pieces with a full body tackle.

Hiruma kicked Edward.

"OW!" The blond glowered at the quarterback, just before he remembered something. Well, Hiruma must have been pleased with his teaching efforts.

That night, Edward was walking home from a discussion with Hiromu. Ever since Hiruma found out where he lived, they'd met at the manga artist's place in an effort to keep his secret safe. But this meeting hadn't been the typical check through a few chapters. Someone had wanted to make an anime out of the series, but didn't want to use too much of the original material. The artist had run a few alternative story ideas past Edward and he'd picked the one least abhorrent. Mom would have turned in her grave at the option, but it was the lesser evil out of all the possible ideas. Still, his shoulders slumped.

Then something landed on his head. Ed reached up and grabbed the thing. It was a head band with a black cat and the word "panther" embroidered on it. Pretty cool design. Ed held onto it and kept walking. He stretched it out in his hands as he kept walking. "Where did this thing come fro-"

He banged into someone. Ed looked up and saw-Wow. It was the ball boy of the visiting American team. The supposed Panther looked down at Ed's hands and grabbed the head band. "Thanks! I was looking for this! Where'd you find it?"

Ed shrugged. "It fell on my head a little ways back."

Then they heard signs of a party. Edward looked over and realized he was right outside Kurita's house, or temple. It looked like the pipsqueaks of the Devil Bats had followed the boy home and were pigging out on sushi. Ed shouted "Hi." And walked over to where the others were eating.

Somehow, the whole American team ended up sitting down with them to eat. Ed got his fill and continued on home, leaving the others to the perils of underage drinking. He'd never forget the hangover he'd had in Youswell after the whole fiasco with the deed to the mining town and that corrupt official.

Ed looked back towards the party. It might have been under different circumstances, but Sena and the gang were having the same good time Ed had had with Alphonse many times. He wished he could be here for this.

_Al would have been the perfect lineman, with that heavy armor. _Then again, they probably wouldn't have let him play. Even Edward's automail had to be padded. Mustang would never have played, too busy worrying about how he might get hurt. _But he'd have come up with some great trick plays. I have to admit, he knew how to play an opponent, and his strategies were pretty good. _Winry could have given Mamori a run for her money in the destructive non-weapon category. Broom against wrench that would have been something to see. Especially if you threw a slipper in. Ed shuddered at the thought of his teacher training the team. She would have whipped them into shape quick enough.

Then he thought of the three Hah brothers. He snorted. They'd have been quaking in their shoes if even Winry found them slacking off. But Havoc might have joined in, especially for a smoke. _Wait, _he thought. _When was the last time I actually saw one of them with a cigarette? Not in a while._ _I wonder how that started. _He just shrugged him shoulders and kept walking.

The next morning, he did his daily warn up and headed for the school. At the gate, he spotted Gen headed in the opposite direction. "You know," he said to the carpenter, "you'll be coming here a lot more often in the future."

Gen smiled and asked, "Why do you think that?"

Ed grinned in a way that reminded the ex-kicker of a completely different blond. "Because you'll be back on the team after today."

**No, Ed didn't take part in the drinking. And he's talking about the first anime. When should the secret of Ed's past get out?**

**Please Review!**


	38. Nasa game Part 1

The crowd roared to life as the Devil Bats walked onto the electronically lit field for the night game against the Aliens.

"Now, here they are! The Nasa Aliens!" The speakers blasted out one of the most annoying voices on the planet and announced the other team. Edward looked at their serious faces. _Good. They're not taking us lightly. We did win against Taiyo, after all. _The loudspeaker kept blaring out information on the other team. "The Aliens have Homer's shuttle pass!" _So they've got a fancy throw, big deal. I wonder if Monta could intercept that?_

Another voice added, "You can't overlook the strength of their offensive line, either." It was the editor from the magazine. Of course they'd have one of their staff members at the thing, especially since they were sponsoring it.

Then the other, more annoying voice came back on. "They're powerful on the inside too! Their player Gonzales is famous for his 'irredeemable tattoo.'"

The player in question proudly lifted up his sleeve and Sena and Monta didn't even try to hold it in. "His tattoo says poop!" Ed crumbled to the ground, gripping his stomach from the sheer force of his laughter. He was so glad he'd taken those Japanese classes now. After the obligatory trash talk between Coach Apollo and Hiruma, and the Nasa rallying cry of "One small step for man, one giant leap forwards toward victory for the Nasa Aliens!" and the much simpler Deimon chant "We'll kill them! Yeah!", both teams lined up and the game began!

Edward bounced on the balls of his feet. Hiruma had told Sena to blitz Homer on this first play to make an impression, but he'd need a gap in the wall to get there. Ed and the rest charged in to create that gap.

Bump! Every single one of them was forced back the instant they made contact with the other team's linemen. What was going on? Ed rushed in again, only to be thrown back. Okay, the other guys had to be doing something he wasn't. Again, he rushed in, but this time, he kept an eye on his opponent's arms. They were braced against his chest, and the instant before Ed made impact, he threw both hands forward. In that instant, Ed leaned back and his opponent fell forward, thrown off balance.

Quickly, Edward got his elbow against the other boy's back and threw the Nasa player into the dirt as he charged through the gap and towards Homer. But he had taken too long. The famous shuttle pass had already taken off, with Watt running up the field hotly pursued by Monta. The Devil Bats watched the path of the ball with Chagrin, and breathed a sigh of relief when it missed and they didn't get the touchdown. They had another chance at the blitz.

They huddled up and Hiruma asked Edward, "What did you do to get through their line?" Ed grinned and told the others. "They wait until you're right about to bowl them over, before they shift their weight forward and bump you hard. The trick is to lean back or slip to the side the instant they shift their weight. It makes them loose their balance, and that's when you get in a sack Homer."

Hiruma grinned and told the rest of the line to do just that. He and Edward would be the blitz line this time. The two teams lined up opposite each other and the American line got their wall ready. They had to be extra quick with the timing now. What happened with the short blond was a fluke. "Hut!" The ball was in Homer's hands and the Deimon line rushed forward.

The Nasa linemen watched their opponents. When the Devil Bats were only about a foot away, they shifted their weight forward and got ready for that sudden jolt. Jumonji and Komusubi watched the linemen's feet as they charged forward. _There! _Jumonji saw the other lineman's foot bend, with more weight on the toes than the heels. It was a good thing he'd had so many scrapes as a punk, they really helped his reflexes. Jumonji ducked to the side, letting his off kilter opponent fall into the grass.

Komusubi just barreled forward until his helmet collided with his opponent's stomach. If they were leaning forward, then a hit right there, in their center, should topple them over no matter when they leaned. The lineman flipped over the shorter Deimon player and landed in an undignified heap as the Devil Bat ran forward towards the American quarterback.

The shorter lineman locked his attention onto Homer's waist, which was the closest and easiest target for him, but then he remembered what Ed had said during their tackling training. They had to aim for the arms. "Anywhere else and he would have the chance to throw it before he went down," Edward had instructed. The shorter boy leapt up and latched onto the American quarterback's bicep just as Jumonji slammed into him on the same side, hands latched around his wrist. Homer crumbled under the combined weight of the punk and mini Kurita. The Americans lost one yard on their second play, and had only two more downs to move forward.

The stadium roared to life with cheering for the successful play by the Japanese Devil Bats, and the players took a moment to soak it in. They could do this. They could win. _And if we win, _Sena thought with a smile, _Musashi will come back on the team._

Ed's eyes blazed. Musashi was riding on this, but so was something else. He couldn't let Hiruma make good on his bet about the Devil Bats moving. _I don't want to have to explain to the others why I can't get through security at the airport or anything. _He'd actually never been out of the country because of that, he didn't even know if they'd let him on a plane, with his arm and leg. And he sure didn't want to find that out with the rest of the team to watch. So that meant they had to win this thing. They huddled up again and Hiruma unfurled their new plan.

**Yeah, Edward stole Sena's brain moment in the game, but don't worry. Sena still gets to shine.**

**Please Review!**


	39. Nasa game Part 2

The Nasa Aliens were on their third down without success and Coach Apollo was not happy. "How did those Japanese Monkeys get past you? We're Americans, we're heavier and stronger than them!"

"Coach, we-"

"I don't want excuses!" He roared over the top of his linemen's protests. "Get a touchdown with the shuttle pass on this next play!"

Homer ground his teeth and the Aliens lined up again. "Hut!" The ball flew back into his hands and the Nasa line braced themselves for impact. The Devil Bats were using their bump tactics against them, so they went back to planting their feet and holding off their opponents with muscle alone. That was their mistake.

"Okay," Hiruma had told his team in the moments before they broke their huddle, "Apollo won't use the bump again. It'll be back to regular pushing. You three," he pointed at the Hah brothers, "use the Trip-Up method if you have to, but get them down. Blondie, do the same." Ed nodded. "Once you get your guy down, rush Homer. Eyeshield and Monkey go for the blitz."

Ed went over that lineup in his head and grinned. "Another fumbled ball?"

Sena and Monta looked at each other, eyes sparking. Could they do it again? Hiruma smiled menacingly. "Exactly. They didn't bother to watch that game, so they won't see it coming." They broke and headed onto the field.

That was how half of Nasa's line ended up tripped and another thrown on his back by a charging Edward. The blond raced in and grabbed the American quarterback's arm, but this time, he didn't throw the other boy to the ground to end the play. Homer swung his arm wildly, trying to get it free for the pass and the motion made the ball slip right out of his fingers.

Homer gnashed his teeth. It was another unsuccessful pass, with no one there to catch it, not even one of the Devil Bat players. Eyeshield was the only one close enough besides the blond, and he couldn't let go for fear Homer would chase and catch the ball. They were safe.

And then Eyeshield was right underneath the falling ball.

_What?!_

Apollo gasped. How had he gotten there? Just a second ago, he was…he was back by the line! How did he get all the way past the quarterback like that?

A certain linebacker's eyes lit up as he watched the play on the screen. _It was a change of pace! _Shin thought as he watched the game on the TV in the workout room with his fellow knights. _Just when you think he's stopped, the next moment he's racing ahead at top speed._

Ed grinned as he saw Sena make the catch, although not as neatly as Monta would have done, and let go of Homer's arm. He had a different job now. Ed ran after Sena, hoping to catch up so he could protect the boy, but he quickly gave up the notion and just stood back to watch as the now famous runningback outpaced and outwitted every single Nasa player who tried to stop him.

Panther watched with wide eyes. That quick-footed racing, the change in pace, he had to see. How did he measure up against that? Their drunken race last night had not involved anything like this, and it was driving his legs crazy just watching. They were twitching, begging to be tested.

A cry of "Touchdown!" rang out over the field and the Japanese fans all went wild. The first touchdown of the game, and it was theirs. The American team looked aghast at the player who'd just made a mockery of them in their own sport! The Devil Bats celebrated, Hiruma firing off a round, the Hah brothers, Kurita, and Komusubi whooping it up right in the middle of the field. Yukimitsu and Mamori shouted from the sidelines. They'd won.

Sena looked at the bunch of crazily celebrating Devil Bats with fondness when a chill ran down his spine. He turned around and looked at the goal posts right above him. Panther crouched on the cross piece of the goal posts, blacker than the brightly lit night sky above him and a completely new kind of menacing. Even through the tinted eye ware, the two runners locked eyes, an unwritten challenge hanging in the air. Both hearts raced at the challenge in the other person's legs, running style, sheer capabilities.

"What are you doing? Get Down!" The referee yelled at the African American. The moment broke as Panther apologized and quickly jumped down off the piece of equipment.

Ed and Monta came up behind Sena and eyed the would-be runningback. "Is that the panther?" Sena nodded. "Maxi-bad news. If **he **plays in the game, we're in big trouble." Ed watched the boy as he ran back to his infuriated coach. He'd never seen legs like that, not here or in Amestris. His mind began to spin, thinking of how he'd need to adjust his Claw tackle, how to account for Panther's taller build, his lighter running.

"I wonder if he'll come in later. Maybe in the second half?" Ed nodded, agreeing with Sena's statement.

Monta looked at them like they were both crazy. "What are you saying, stupid?" He cracked his helmet down on Sena's head. "If he comes in, it will be bad news! Have you forgotten? Winning will bring back Musashi! And You!" He turned on Edward. "What are you doing agreeing with him?"

Ed shrugged. "I said it before at the Ojo game. We should see how far we can push them."

Sena remembered now. Even if you knew you couldn't win against your opponent, you could still measure yourself against them. He looked back over at where Coach Apollo was tearing into Panther. "I wonder, if we're leading by a lot, will they let him come on the field later?"

Edward grinned. "Then we'll just have to rack up enough points to force them to bring him out, and still win with over ten so we don't get sent to America." He really wanted to avoid the plane security situation.

Monta still looked at both boys like they were crazy, but he felt the zing run through his blood too. So what if they were crazy? Everyone who played this sport was crazy! They raced back to the Deimon side of the field for the next huddle and game plan.

**Please review! It gets very lonely without any reader feedback.**


	40. Nasa Game Part 3

Coach Apollo scowled at the Japanese team after they sacked Homer on their first down. "Do they really think they can beat the American white man at his own game? Fine, they think they can beat our strength? Let's see how those monkeys handle a battle of wits."

When he heard that, Hiruma smiled so wide that every single fang was fully visible. He'd been waiting for this.

Patiently, the American coach watched as Homer got sacked by the other team's receiving monkey on their second down. The blitz seemed to be their only defensive strategy against the Shuttle Pass. Well, he'd just have to make sure that they didn't have time to plan the blitz. "Right about now, Deimon's defense will start to collapse." He saw the Devil Bats begin to form their huddle. _Sorry, not going to happen. _"Blue! 22!" He yelled to his team. They immediately set up on the field.

Apollo grinned around his cigar. "Your team's weakness is that you don't have a manager or coordinator from the bench." He saw the sweat building on the Japanese quarterback's forehead. "_We _can still maintain control, even without a huddle. I can use code words from the bench. Think you've got a veteran team there that can survive without deciding the play? Huh, monkey brain leader?"

Hiruma growled to himself and yelled, "Two man blitz! Middle two, rush Homer." The two fill-ins nodded and turned around to pretend to charge. Thank goodness they didn't actually have to, going into that battlefield was terrifying. Ed scoffed. Sissies.

"That…that was so loud," said a trembling Sena from right next to the quarterback. His ears wouldn't be the same again.

"There's no time, is there? It's Japanese anyway, so they won't figure it out."

"That's what you think," muttered Watt as he signaled the play to Homer and the coach with his fingers. The team got the message, and Watt ran straight for the middle of the field while Homer brought back the ball and got ready for a shuttle pass. "With the center wide…open…" Apollo didn't finish his sentence as he took in the Deimon side of the field, full of players. Watt was batted around and desperately searched for a spot that wasn't already occupied by a Devil Bat while Homer scanned for a safe place to throw. But there wasn't one. Hiruma bared his gleeful fangs as the Aliens were forced into an incomplete pass.

"Alright, our strategy worked!" Monta struck his pose and shouted.

Sena took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I was afraid they were onto us." Thank goodness Hiruma had thought about this before the game even started.

They'd all stood around the table in the clubhouse while he hashed out their various attacks. "If there isn't time for a huddle, everything I say will be a bluff. Watch for the secret signs!"

But the Nasa Aliens didn't seem to pick up on the fact that Deimon was onto them, since they went without a huddle again. _Or maybe they don't want to admit that they just got beat by a bunch of monkeys, _Hiruma thought as he glanced over to Mamori very discreetly for the play. Well, he'd keep up the performance. "Alright, one man blitz! Monkey, you rush Homer!" Still, it wouldn't do to appear too simple now, so he made the zero with his hand. If Apollo wanted secret signs from him, he'd get some.

Ed rolled his eyes at Monta's bad acting. Why couldn't the older blond call on someone more convincing? Even Jumonji was a better actor than that. He had plenty of bravado, at least, and a much straighter face. Monta had flat-out blushed, and if that wasn't a dead giveaway, he didn't know what was. Mustang would have read the kid like a book. He watched the other coach carefully and saw his eyes lock on to Hiruma's hand. _Good, he took the bait. _Ed dug in his heels and got ready to charge. This time, he wasn't in the line, so he got to have some fun.

"Red 35," Apollo shouted from the sidelines. That translated into "Nobody's rushing. There's time to let the shuttle pass fly," for Watt, and he passed it on to the rest of the team using signals they knew.

"Okay!" The American quarterback shot back to his coach. After the ball went back through the line to Homer, Watt charged up the field to catch as far into Deimon territory as possible and Homer got ready to aim. _Since nobody's coming in to sack me, I can wait until Watt is all the way downfield. _He looked up to better gauge the distance.

And saw Edward flying right over the toppled American line straight at him.

Then, _Wham! _Sena collided with his right side after running around the fight in the middle and Komusubi, his lineman opponent left behind, smacked into his left. Ed, flying over the wall completely, slammed his left shoulder into Apollo's upper torso, sending the bigger boy flat on his back without seriously hurting him. _Good thing I didn't use my right shoulder, _he thought as he watched the other player get up and walk back towards the American side of the field.

As the loudspeakers blared that possession had changed and it was now Deimon's turn to try for a touchdown, the three shorter members of the team beamed in the roar from the crowd and Apollo buried his head in his hands, trying to block out the fact that he'd been outwitted. "How!? He was definitely making the sign with his hands."

"Yep, that's just a trap for idiots," Hiruma explained to a curious Sena, just loud enough to make sure Apollo heard him. Oh, but he did love riling up his opponents. Actually, his whole reaction to the Deimon system, which placed Mamori in the driver's seat, was absolutely hilarious to watch, especially when he keeled over from the shock. And the froth at the mouth was a very nice touch. The devilish quarterback wondered how to get a rise out of the guy next.

**I loved this chapter so much from the books I did almost nothing to change it. Hiruma's so much fun when he's devious.**

**Please Review!**


	41. Nasa Game Part 4

Their first offensive play was a run, clean and simple. Apollo watched as the shorter blond and infamous Eyeshield 21 ran around to the right to try and get past the line. He'd known they would go for the run, that's why the smaller tattoo brother had been warned to hunt down Eyeshield and…

What?! Apollo's jaw dropped as his supposed secret cornerback was blocked by that blond pipsqueak!

The little brother pushed back. _I'm a small helpful guy! I'm known for being nimble and strong! You won't beat me! _ He leaned forward, determined to pin Edward to the ground with his strength. _I will live up to my brother, I will! _He pressed even further.

Ed grinned and slipped to the side. The little Gonzales, with his support removed, fell flat in the dirt as Ed ran past him back up to where Sena was going up against three of the Nasa's backfield at once. With no other blockers or tacklers, the other team overwhelmed Sena and stopped the run. But he'd made it ten yards down the field, enough to give them their first down and four more tries.

The buzzer for halftime went off and the teams returned to their respective sides. Hiruma ran over that last play in his mind. The double team of Edward and Sena was almost always effective for gaining yardage. What if he took it to the next level? He pulled the huge table top/strategy board and slapped it down over the bench. The others crowded around it as he shouted, "Okay, we're changing our strategy. We're doing a big sweep."

The others crammed in to hear better. "It's a bigger version of what Blondie's already been doing. A bunch of guys are gonna clump around Eyeshield and stop the chumps on the side." He pointed at the three Hah brothers. "You three, after the handoff, run to Eyeshield and tackle anyone in his way. Open a path." He grinned and looked back at Sena. "Then you run right through it and score on those idiots." He pointed over his shoulder at the American side and a furious Apollo yelling at his team. "We get another touchdown and enough points to stay in Japan." That sounded good to the team.

The whistle signaled the end of half time and the two teams walked back onto the field. As Jumonji passed Sena, he said, "Mr. Eyeshield?" Sena spun to face the ex-punk. "You are amazing. If we can make the smallest opening, you'll get through." Togano and Kuroki also turned. "Compared to you and Edward, we are still woefully inexperienced. There's no way we can tackle the Americans." Edward was tempted to pipe up about how they just needed to hold them off, not tackle, when the lineman continued. "But there are some people we've got to prove ourselves to. Please." He lowered his head. "If Kuroki and Togano and I…if we somehow can block them for a moment…please get through."

Ed slung his arm around the taller boy's shoulder. "We'll block them for more than a moment. Let's go." A smile crept onto the ex-punk's face as he and his fellow linemen walked onto the field and took their positions.

"Hut!" The ball flew from Kurita to Hiruma, and to Sena. The three ex-punks and Komusubi deserted their positions and joined the two runningbacks as the cluster charged up the field. Apollo had again sent the littler Gonzales to stop the rush. Ed had already sized the boy up during halftime and so knew which of their group could handle him best. He nudged Komusubi in the side and the mini Kurita took the hint, grappling with the Nasa cornerback as the rest of the group sped past and into the bigger cloud of American opposition.

Edward locked arms with the next Nasa blocker. _Please let them remember those lessons, _he thought as he wrestled with the other boy, trying not to use his right arm too much. The trio ran in and pushed against their opponents. Thank goodness the Nasa players had stopped using the bump. Togano took the opportunity to use the Trip-Up method and knocked the boy clean into the player Jumonji was pushing. The toppled players and the little Gonzales Komusubi had pushed out of the way opened a sliver for Sena.

He eyed the space as he raced forward. He'd been in smaller spots before, like when he went up against Banba. He careened through the opening and right into Homer. The blond American latched on to the runningback and dragged Sena to the ground, but not before he gained another yard after passing the last of his blockers. The play was over, but they had another ten yards. Three more chances.

The crowd roared to life. "Alright, Eyeshield 21!"

Someone screamed "Eyesh!" and soon the whole crowd was roaring out the abbreviated version of Sena's nickname.

Then another fan, it looked like from the section made almost entirely of punks, yelled "Good job stopping them, Kuroki, Togano!"

Kuroki looked at the stands, surprised. "I think they're cheering us on."

Ed punched him lightly on the shoulder. "You just pulled off the play of the game! Of course they are!"

They did the sweep for the next play, and the play after that, each time getting just enough yards to get four more tries. Those tries piled up until they were only ten yards away from the end zone and the Nasa Aliens were getting rather desperate. Ed looked back at the other linemen for the sweep. The three brothers had gotten better with each rush, and Komusubi struggled a bit against the slightly taller Nasa 77, but they were doing well. Maybe he could talk Hiruma into letting him switch Sena protection duties with one of them occasionally, so he could get more strength training on the line.

They did another sweep, and landed Sena right in the middle of the end zone. Both Eyeshield and Edward glanced at the scoreboard. They'd missed both of their extra-point kicks, so the score was now 12-0. They needed to at least double that to get Panther onto the field and still win.

Sena looked over at the American side of the field. He hoped the lead would be enough to get the other boy out onto the field so they could carry out the promise they'd made at the zoo.

**I'm almost done writing this arc. It's really hard to keep track of the score, even when I'm writing! But once we get through the game, it's onto the death march and a lot more freedom for me.**

**Please Review! This story will dry up and die if it is not watered. Thanks to those who did.**


	42. Nasa Game Part 5

Apollo eyed the other side of the field. They had to do something, or he'd never see American shores again. How many people were going to blitz this time? Was it the manager with no blitz, the benched player with a one-man blitz, or was that stupid dog signaling for another massive three-man blitz? Darn it, there were too many things that the Japanese Monkey quarterback could be using to confuse him! "Enough with the cheap tricks!" He ground his cigar into the bench. "Using our true ability, we'll keep adding up our shuttle passes against you Japanese monkeys!"

The Japanese fans groaned as the Americans scored their first touchdown with the Shuttle Pass, despite Edward's best attempts to sack Homer. It seemed the linemen had wizened up, and weren't using any bump tactics. "Keep your feet together so they can't trip you, and keep you balance!" Apollo had yelled at them, and it was clearly working. _Not good, _Hiruma growled to himself. Worse still, they made their extra-point kick, so the Devil Bats' lead was diminished to five points instead of twelve. They needed another touchdown.

The sweep group of Jumonji, Togano, Kuroki, Komusubi, and Edward headed up the right side of the field with Sena right in the middle. The backs from the Nasa team ran in their direction. Deimon wouldn't get another touchdown using that old trick!

Which was exactly the reason Hiruma had kept the ball and scored a touchdown with Monta's golden catching skills. The looks on the Americans' faces were utterly priceless. They had their lead of over ten points back. Looks like the team would be doing the planned death march in Japan this year, although it was a pity he wouldn't be able to take over Las Vegas.

Over on the American side of the field, Apollo bit his cigar right in half. If things kept up like this… He looked back down at the bowed figure of Panther. That just irritated him more. "How long are you gonna do that for?! If you please-"

There was a rustle of fabric behind him. Apollo turned. The whole Nasa Aliens Football team was bowed on their hands and knees in front of him. Watt looked up. "The rest of us, we're asking you too."

" We're not just asking because he's our friend," Homer added, shoving his hair away from his face. "Without Panther's legs, it's gonna be tough to win, let alone by ten points."

"Please," begged the only black member of the team, "give me my last and first chance. If I can't hold back Eyeshield, then I'll quit the team." Apollo stared down at the kid he'd utterly despised for so long.

The Devil Bats broke out of their huddle and headed back out onto the field. Sena's eyes lit up. Standing smack in the center of the incoming Aliens was Panther. It was time to fulfill the promise. Hiruma took one look at the new player and whispered something to Edward. The blond nodded and got into position.

First, Kurita and Komusubi charged the new player, determined to stop him before he could cause any serious damage. Panther felt the thrill running through his blood. _Finally, I can play football! _He wove around the two bulky linemen and saw Sena running to catch him. _I can finally face off against hi-_

Pain shot up his side from his ribcage all the way to the base of his spine and he hit the ground with a hard thud. What the? He looked down at his torso. One thick arm clothed in a black sleeve hiding a layer of padding wound around his front and clutched at his ribs. A black helmet rose off the ground and he stared into the golden eyes of the boy from last night. _It's the guy who found my headband! _Ed got to his feet and stared down at Panther. "Welcome to football."

_Somehow, when he says that, I don't think it's friendly._ Panther was just a little shaken when he went back to the Nasa huddle to plan for the next play. He really didn't want to go up against that again. _I didn't think playing football would hurt so much. _ He was tempted to strip and check his torso for bruises, even though they'd gotten the needed ten yards, so they still had four more chances. Still, did the Devil Bats have to put that guy on him during his very first turn?

Hiruma grinned at Panther's reaction to his first taste of Edward's claws. Just like the first time Sena got tackled by Shin, except it might be worse. He wasn't sure who had the more powerful and painful tackle. Well, Ed was certainly going up against him again.

Unfortunately, Kurita had to stay on the line for the next play, so Edward had no one to hide his approach and Panther saw him coming. His nerves tingled at the thought of another brutal tackle. _I've got to get away from him!_ Panther veered away from the incoming Deimon runningback, and right off the sidelines, stopping the play with only 15 more yards gained. The Nasa Aliens were now 25 yards to the end zone. Still, Hiruma grinned. The new runner was so terrified by Edward that if he even saw the other boy, he'd run in the other direction. What could have been an instant touchdown on that first play had now taken much more time. Even if the Nasa Aliens made a touchdown, they still wouldn't beat the Devil bats, it was taking too long. They might not get those extra ten points, but their chance of victory had increased from 65% to 75%.

Then the Nasa team got a touchdown using the stupid Shuttle Pass. Stupid! He'd forgotten to guard against that! And on top of it, they made their kick, shrinking the gap even further. But at least it was their team to go on the offensive now. They'd get their lead back.

**Should I let the Devil Bats win this game, or stick to the original outcome? Review and tell me what you think!**


	43. Nasa Game Part 6

Hiruma broke their huddle again after giving them strict instructions. The play was again the sweep, but this time Edward pulled the other blockers aside for a moment. "Panther's going to come in and try to stop Sena. I need to stay free so I can tackle him. Can you guys stop the other players, even if there are more of them than you?" The brothers had no idea how they'd do it, but they nodded. This was their best chance at winning, they had to try.

The group clumped around Sena after the handoff, and true to form, at least five Nasa players were waiting for them. Komusubi picked the shortest guy and held him off. Jumonji and Kuroki looked at the incoming players and glanced at each other. Both boys tackled one incoming player, almost back to back with each other. Then Kuroki noticed another of the Nasa linemen coming right at them, aiming to go between the two struggling pairs and get at Eyeshield. _If this doesn't work, Hiruma's going to shoot me. _

He took a step back and let the Nasa player push him right into Jumonji. Then the incoming Alien lineman slammed into the group of four and couldn't get any closer to the light speed runningback. Togano tackled someone coming from the opposite direction of the group, leaving just enough room for Sena and the still free Edward to squeeze through and head for the end zone. Then, just as Edward had predicted, Panther ran up to the duo.

_Nonononononono, it's him_! Panther tried to veer away and go around Edward, but the blond was too quick. He leapt towards the boy, powerful legs propelling him forward faster than Panther could veer away, and both tumbled down into the grass. The rookie runningback got up, mercifully without new bruises, and watched as Sena crossed into the end zone again. _We promised to fight each other, but I always get stopped before I have the chance. _He glared at Edward as he walked back to the sidelines where his teammates were congratulating their star runningback. _I'm going to get past you! Then Sena and I will battle._

Kuroki rubbed his backside. Darn, that Hiruma kicked hard! But he'd done it without saying anything, so…maybe he'd liked his blocking maneuver? You never could really tell with that guy. At least Edward had been clear in his praise. "Nice thinking," he'd said before grabbing a water bottle. That had felt pretty good, although he'd never tell the shorty that. Suddenly Edward got the feeling that he should be height ranting.

After he kicked Kuroki, Hiruma stared over at the Nasa side of the field. Panther had changed the whole game. Now blitzing wasn't enough, they had to guard against the run too. Edward had done a pretty good job of catching Panther, but he was their best blitzer. Sena could potentially catch Panther, with his speed, but it was a slimmer chance. Maybe he should…

Then he saw Panther staring over at their side. His eyes were furious. The quarterback followed his line of sight. It was fixed on Edward. Okay, the tackle was no longer intimidating, now it was just making Panther play harder. He called for a huddle and the players grouped up. "Next play, Blondie goes in for the blitz just in case they pass. Fatty, give him an opening. Monkey goes backfield to stop the receiver. Eyeshield, you're on Panther. Whoever has the ball, stop them."

His legs twitching, blood singing, Sena stood opposite Panther on the field. This was what he'd been waiting for, and now that they had a bigger advantage, even if Panther made it through, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. And they were in the fourth quarter, so even if they did make a touchdown, they wouldn't have time for the win.

"Hut!" The ball went back to Homer and he threw his arm up for the pass as he took a few steps back. Kurita collided with the bigger Gonzales. If he could make just the tiniest gap…there! Ed shot through the small space and collided with Homer's arm just nanoseconds after the ball left his hand in the classic shuttle pass. Watt was already a few yards down the field when his hands closed around the ball. This was their chance to get some yards!

Then Monta screamed "Catch Max!" and latched himself onto the other receiver's ankles. Both players went down in a heap, with a small increase of five yards for the Aliens.

The Aliens returned to their side of the field, slightly more desperate. If they didn't get some serious yardage soon, the ball would go back to Deimon. They needed a touchdown. They huddled up and Homer glanced at Panther. The boy was practically hopping from foot to foot. Okay, that decided it. They were going with the run. If Deimon didn't assign that blond runningback to Panther, he'd have a better chance of getting through. They broke and walked back out onto the field to set up.

Homer took in the positions of the various Devil Bat backs. The receiver was out far to the right, opposite Watt. The short blonde was right in the center, standing next to the Deimon quarterback. And Eyeshield…

Homer grinned. Eyeshield was directly across from Panther. _Looks like Hiruma wants this face off just as much as we do. _Oh yes, this was a showdown no one would want to miss. Especially since the blond was nowhere near close enough to stop Panther.

"Hut!" The ball flew back into Homer's hands and Panther ran in to scoop it away from him. They shared a grin as the rookie runningback took off with the prize, headed straight for Eyeshield. Number 30 turned and ran downfield, along with the receiver and quarterback. They were building their defenses.

But they weren't fast enough. Panther spun around Eyeshield, straight-armed two other backs, and outdistanced the blond. Then he skidded into the end zone and the crowds went wild. Panther had finally been completely unleashed on the world of football.

**Yes, I love Jumonji, but the other blockers need their moment too. I loved having fun with them in this chapter, and letting Ed get Panther each time. **

**Please Review! The response for last chapter was awesome!**


	44. Nasa Game Part 7

_How does he do it? _Sena stared over at Panther on the other side of the field as they formed up for the next play. _How does he make such short cuts and still get past the blockers? _ His running style needed too big of turns to even begin to compete. He ran forward with the ball, trying to get past the line. But even though he passed most of the Nasa players, Panther still caught him. Sena ran a hand over his ribs where Panther had grabbed him. The American's tackle was nowhere near Edward's but his arms were still…His arms! That was how he continued to get past the other players!

Hiruma eyed the scoreboard. Deimon had 18 points, Nasa had 14. If not for those stupid kick points, they'd be – No, stop that right now. Just think of a strategy. He looked around the huddle. "We're going with a sweep. Blondie, you brothers, and Fatty Junior. You!" He pointed at Kuroki. "Do what you did before, take out more than just your guy. Leave Blondie free for Panther." Kuroki grinned at his two friends. They knew how to do that.

The strategy worked just like last time, giving them a whole 30 yards before Sena got tackled, and had the added bonus of frustrating Apollo about the blocking and putting the fear of Edward's tackle back into Panther. There was only twenty yards left, so they grouped up again. "This time, we're going for a pass. Eyeshield, Blondie, cover Monkey while he runs. Line, hold off the Aliens."

After both teams set up, Watt puzzled over the placement of the players. The braided blond was over by the receiver. He was one of their best players. If Number 30 was on the receiver, they were going to pass. He signaled to Homer, and heard him whisper the new plan to Panther. The rookie grinned and nodded at his friend.

The minute the ball went back to Hiruma, Panther started running up the field. Monta ran around to the right with the two running backs and was knocked to the grass by a tackle from Homer. "Keep running," Ed grunted to Sena and the pair took off after the now flying ball. Neither was trained in catching, but they could still try.

But Hiruma had been depending on them to get Monta down the field. Monta could catch his bullet-like passes with an ease that many envied, including many of their opponents and the Deimon quarterback himself. But Panther was already far down the field. He could afford to let the ball burn off steam.

Monta watched struggling out of Homer's grip, as Panther caught the pass, _his _pass. For a moment, many team members stood a bit shell shocked. Then Edward growled, "Get him." Sena nodded and both boys rocketed forward and into the path of the incoming rookie.

Hiruma grinned as Panther swerved far to the left in an effort to avoid Edward's Devil Bat Claws. Their intimidation strategy was working perfectly, at least on that front. This runner needed to toughen up. Had they given him any pain training at all? He watched as Edward growled something to Sena and the boy ran to the left and back towards the Deimon side, gaining enough distance to cut him off and force him to go off the field or back in the blond's direction.

Panther looked between his two options. He really didn't want to get tackled again. His padding didn't realy fit that well, so he wasn't as protected as he should have been. So even though Edward hadn't been using his right arm, the other boy's torso was still bruised. He looked at the other option, the sideline. If he didn't do well in this game, there was the chance he might never play again. He'd gone through so much to get here. Then Coach Apollo shouted "Go for it!" Panther grinned into his helmet and swerved towards the incoming blond.

Edward knocked right into the boy's shoulder and sent him sprawling before he even reached the Deimon line. But the damage had been done. Nasa had the ball now, and Edward had absolutely no idea how to keep holding them off.

Hiruma looked around at his team. They were halfway through the fourth quarter and everyone was exhausted except for him and Blondie. The Nasa punks hadn't been playing thw whole game, so they were still relatively fresh. "Blondie, guard against the pass. Monkey, Eyeshield, you're on Panther. When we know who has the ball, stop them." They broke and formed up.

Nasa went for the run. Panther leapt down the field with Sena trailing after. The boy tried to intercept, but Panther knocked him out of the way again. _It's no good. When he uses his arm on me, I don't have the strength to…wait. How is he able to use his arm? _Hiruma had told him to grip with both arms all the time, that it was more secure that way. _That means, when he's pushing his arm out, there's a moment when the ball isn't protected. I know how to beat him!_

Sena raced back up until he was running parallel to the taller boy. He watched as Panther started to move his arm towards him to shove.

Sena kicked off and shot at a speed rarely seen on the field, 4.2 seconds, the world of light speed, and knocked the ball clean out of Panther's hands and into the sky. He ran forward at that same lightning speed and caught the ball.

The Deimon players saw that and immediately started to form the sweep. Togano, Kuroki, and Jumonji grabbed Komusubi and they met up with Edward further down the field before forming the clump. With Panther so far behind them and knocked off balance from Sena's mad rush, the blocking was easy, especially with all the Nasa players in mild shock. They veered to the right and Komusubi tackled the smaller Gonzales before he got within five feet of Sena. Other linemen went down beneath the brothers and Edward wrestled with Homer as Sena streaked down the field and got them a touchdown.

The score was now Deimon 24, Nasa 14. If they kept this lead, they wouldn't have to go to America at all. But then Sena collapsed.

When the running back came to, the team was walking off the field and he couldn't tell from their expressions whether they'd won or lost. He glanced at the still-lit scoreboard. Deimon 24, Nasa 22. The Aliens must have scored another touchdown while he was out. Their lead wasn't enough to satisfy the bet Hiruma made, but they'd won. Musashi would be back on the team!

The deimon quarterback walked towards the Nasa players with a you-are-in-deep-trouble grin. "The numbers don't really add up, do they? But is a promise is a promise." Hiruma shredded the Nasa team's passports and switched their return tickets to the Deimon team's. Edward wondered if he could persuade Hiruma to leave him behind.

_Nope, no arguing with that face. _Hiruma had his devilish grin on, the one that showed every one of his teeth. He scowled. Best prepare for the worst.

**This was almost a fun chapter compared to what's coming next. Brace yourselves.**

**Please review! If I get five reviews on this chapter, I'll post the next one a day early, tomorrow!**


	45. Cold, Hard, Truth

BEEEEEEEEP! Ed flinched at the loud sound from the metal detector. He just had to be the first one from the team to go through the detector, which meant all the Devil Bats would see this.

Security raced over as Edward set off the metal detector. "Excuse me sir, but you're going to have to come with us."

Hiruma panicked for a moment. How could he have forgotten about this?! He quickly flipped open his threat book and skimmed the list of names for the one written on the security man's name tag. No luck, he didn't have anything on the guy.

Ed sighed. "Look, it's just my prosthetic limbs. They're made of metal."

The guard nodded. "I'll have to ask you to remove them then so we can run them through the X-ray scanner." Monta and Sena exchanged puzzled looks. What were they talking about? They glanced at Kurita for answers, but it looked like he didn't know anything either. He slid his left arm out of the sleeve on his jacket, with only his tank top underneath. His eyes clenched shut. _This is not how I wanted them to find out, if I wanted them to find out at all. _And to think he used to be so brazen about it, even showing it off, like that time with the priest in Liore. He removed the coat.

Sena, Monta, and all the other team members gasped as inch by inch, the sleeve came away to reveal gleaming steel welded into their friend's shoulder, replacing his biceps, elbow, all the way down to the tips of his fingers. Even the guard looked distinctly uncomfortable. Ed flinched at the sound. He could already taste the pity. _All this time later, and I'm still paying for it. Even in this world. It'll be a miracle if they still let me play after knowing this. _Then he bent over and reached for the cuff of his left pant leg.

_No…no way, _Thought the guard as he watched the kid remove his shoe and roll up the pant leg. The metal plating and joints jarred him. _What happened to this kid?! _But Edward didn't notice. He kept up until the whole leg was exposed, from his toes to where it joined his flesh at the thigh.

He could feel the eyes on him as he did as the guard had instructed and removed arm, flipping the latches and placing it in a dish. He'd known these stares since he was twelve and it had never bothered him before. _Then why does it now? _He stated with a monotone, "I'm going to need some help for this next one." To the team's and Ed's surprise, Hiruma stepped up and put his arm around Ed's waist, helping him keep his balance as he reached down to where the metal met flesh on his leg and unlatched the different holds on his leg. The former Fullmetal Alchemist grabbed the leg and deposited it into one of the dishes with Hiruma's help. Many of the team members now felt queasy. One of the guards had paled to the shade of paper. "I also have metal ports in my shoulder and left thigh, so I'm going to set off the metal detector. Anything else?"

One of the security guards recovered enough to say, "We'll need to take you to a separate room for a more in depth search. Your friends can accompany you to…help, if they can pass the screenings. Please put the prosthetics in one of the dishes and allow the machine to scan them." The team watched numbly as Ed's limbs went through the machine. Jumonji looked at the blond. _What the heck happened to him? And how does he play when he's like that? _Then his memory jumped to the kid's fight with Agon before the Taiyo game. _So that's why he never hit him with his right fist. He could have killed the dude with a metal hand._

Sena's stomach flipped as he remembered one of the first things Ed had ever said to him. _"Two good legs and all you do is run away?" Wait a second._ Sena looked back at Ed, now looking distinctly broken as Hiruma helped him hop through the detector and helped him latch on to the railing for support. _If he can fight like he does with just two real limbs, what could the rest of us grow to be like, if we had that same drive?_ Now he wanted to train even more for the fall season.

The team dumped their personal effects into the buckets and all passed the test with flying colors. Slipping on shoes, gathering bags, Komusubi picking up Ed's discarded jacket, they followed the security guards and Edward into a small white room with a table and a few chairs. The guard most in control of himself gestured to one of the chairs. "Please sit down." Ed did so, head hung. This was punishment after all. "We're going to have to ask you to remove the rest of your clothes." Sena came out of his daze and walked forward to help, but Ed was already pulling his tank top off and unbuttoning his pants.

_What on earth has he been involved in, to have so many scars? _Yukimitsu couldn't believe what he was seeing. He'd always known he and Edward were opposites, but this really hammered it home. What had Edward's life been like, while he'd been stuck behind a desk?

One of the guards prodded at The metal attached to Edward's shoulder-_it was bolted right into his shoulder! _\- and by accident stuck his fingers into the hole in the middle of the docking port. Ed jolted forward and ground his teeth. He took a few deep breaths and asked, "Could you keep your fingers away from there?"

"Sir, we have to check every-"

"My nerves are in there!" He yelled at the guard. "I don't think you have to stick in your whole finger! Just look!" The guard nodded shakily and continued inspecting the port, hands far away from any openings. Kurita and Mamori couldn't take it anymore and stepped outside the small room.

Mamori brought her hand away from where it had shot up over her mouth when Edward tensed. "I had no idea." She thought of the times he'd tackled people with that arm, trained in blocking with that arm, even the time he vaulted up to the roof. Had he been in that terrible pain the whole time? Kurita hunched over on the floor next to her, sobbing.

Inside the room, the guards had finally finished inspection and given Edward clearance to board along with a small card. "Give this to the security people at any of the other gates, and they'll just do a quick search."

Ed grabbed the card and snarled, "Thanks. How long do we have until the flight?"

"Ten minutes," Hiruma answered, although one of the guards looked like he wanted to.

The blond groaned and he slid his pants back on over his leg and stump. "We don't have time to put my arm and leg back on now, we'll have to do it on the plane." He looked around and asked, "Where's Kurita? I can't walk."

"You were fine before," said a still shaken Sena.

"That was before they scraped their fingernails against my nerve endings. But we can't wait, we need to catch our flight." Kurita was ushered back in the room and told to pick up Edward after he finished putting on his shirt. The lineman lifted him with a hand against his back and underneath his remaining leg. The tiny part of Sena that wasn't still reeling with the fact that Edward was a double amputee noticed how gentle Kurita was acting. Usually his idea of picking someone up was holding them against his stomach or a piggyback ride.

Monta picked up the arm, and almost dropped it. The thing was heavy! Edward walked around with this all day? Togano picked up his leg and luggage and the team walked back to the terminal and boarded, with the punk trio and Hiruma sending eye-born daggers at the people who so much as looked at Edward.

Once they were on the plane, Edward moved the adjustable arm rests out of the way on one of the empty rows of seats. "Hey Sena, can I have my arm now?" The running back rushed over and handed the piece of metal to him. Ed laid it on one of the seats and took off the right side of his jacket so the port was completely exposed. He took the arm, lined the shoulder of the arm up to his port, and slammed them together. "Arg!" He hunched over and tried to breathe deeply.

Mamori hovered over him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I just connected live wires to each of my nerves. I'm fine!" He spat out. "Where's my leg? Should get this over with."

Mamori shook her head. "You can't take your pants off here, Edward. We'll have to move you to the plane's bathroom." Then the overhead lights came on, warning them to buckle their seatbelts for takeoff. Edward shifted around his still aching arm and tried to find said seatbelt. But Mamori saw it first. She grabbed it and buckled the blond in. "We'll get your leg on after liftoff. Is that alright?"

Ed nodded. "Stupid security," he muttered under his breath. But he still smiled. _I'd forgotten how it feels when people help you. It's nice._ The twinges from his arm were almost gone by the time Komusubi helped him into the bathroom with Sena trailing behind carrying his arm. He sat in there a few minutes after reconnection and slid his pants back on. Sena let him lean against him to get back to their seats and he thanked the running back.

**There. I warned you. I actually wrote this chaper weeks ago in a fit of frustration, and just kept tweaking it until I came out with this. What did you think? Is Ed in character?**

**Please Review!**


	46. Beach Football

Mamori plunked down next to him about an hour after he came back with his leg reattached. "How are you feeling?" She asked, motherly instincts fully alert.

"Fine," he grunted. In truth, he was. The twinges had died down and he didn't think the team had taken the news that badly.

"Good." She smiled and relaxed into her seat. "You can just relax while we're in America."

"Not if Hiruma has his way. It's training camp."

Mamori tensed. "But you can't possibly participate like that! You won't be playing on the team anymore, you could hurt yourself."

Hiruma got ready to jump into another argument with the bossy manager. If she thought she could take away one of their best players, she was dead wrong. Then Edward yelled, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE COULDN'T KEEP UP WITH A HYDROGEN ATOM'S TRAINING!?" Ed took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. "Besides, I played like this before. The only thing that's different now is that you know. That doesn't change anything else." That effectively shut up the mother hen. Hiruma chuckled to himself.

Of course, when they actually landed, the first place everyone went was the beach. Edward groaned. _Why did they have to pick a beach? I'll roast alive!_ The first thing he did when they got there was find a shady spot under a canopy that read "Beach Football" and plop himself down in it.

The Sexy Queens swaggered onto the beach for the tournament. This year was their win, for sure. No one could stand up to their amazing sexy bodies, especially not those tattooed imbeciles. They walked up to the booth to sign up but their quarterback fell face first into the sand. He growled into the grains. What dared to trip him and dirty his amazing sexy body?

He looked back and saw a black boot lying innocently on the ground. Who dared to leave themselves out to be tripped on by the Sexy Queen captain? What, did she hope for an accidental kiss from the paragon of manliness? Well she certainly wasn't getting one!

The captain stalked over to where the booted foot connected to a leg and torso. He took a deep breath in and shouted, "Who do you think you are, to trip the captain of the Sexy Queens?" Edward looked up and for a second, thought Armstrong had come back to haunt him. But now, these guys had black hair and weren't nearly as muscled. On top of that, their name was just ridiculous. Of course, the captain took offense at this. "You dare laugh at the Sexy Queens, the masters of beach football? Look at you, short-" And Edward punched him in the face, _with his right hand._

Ed looked down on his trashed opponent. "Watch who you're calling short." The Sexy Queens did not enter the tournament, seeing as their captain ended up in the ER for a broken nose. Edward went to find a different place to sit, one without idiots this time, even if it was hotter.

Hiruma rounded up the gang to meet Doburoku and headed out towards the road. He saw the blonde head under a tree and yelled, "Hey blondie!"

Edward came out onto the path, jacket thrown over his shoulder. "What now?"

Hiruma ignored the gaping trainer and yelled, "We're leaving in his truck for the Ben Ranch."

He grinned. "Good. It was getting unbearable out here." They headed in the direction of the parking lot with the still shocked trainer trailing behind.

Doburoku had Hiruma sit next to him in the cab of the truck while the others rode in the back. "Who was that kid, the one you called blondie. What was wrong with his arm."

"He has steel prosthetics. He's a great player." Then he stuck a stick of gum in his mouth, leaving the trainer to stew. He still hadn't quite forgiven him for running away. By the time they got to the ranch, the air had cooled significantly and Edward had put his jacket back on. Which was a good thing because the moment they stepped on the ranch they were in the company of their rivals, and Hiruma didn't want them knowing about Ed's limbs OR Sena's identity.

Monta and Sena roamed around the barbeque prep area. The receiver cooed over Mamori, dutifully chopping fine slices. Both flinched back from Edward's hammer fist smashing method, but Hiruma's shooting really scared them. Still, the food was delicious.

The next morning, Edward got up early to start his morning martial arts training. _Backflip, aerial twist, land on hands, scissor kick in the air, land on right foot, kick out with left. Jump, midair roundhouse, land on knee, leap again, hammer fist on the way down. Back kick, side kick, then with the other leg._ Only on the second side kick, his leg was knocked aside by something. He quickly back flipped away and took a look at the interruption.

It was the Seibu quarterback. "You got some good moves there," he said as he picked up his hat from where Ed's kick had knocked it off and dusted it off.

The former alchemist glowered at him. "Doesn't your team have morning practice?"

"Doesn't yours?"

Ed shrugged. "I do this instead." He fixed the boy with a hard stare. "What's your excuse?"

But the older boy just shrugged. "Don't have one." He turned around and headed back in the direction of loud grunting and smacking helmets. "See you." Ed glared at the boy's retreating back and resumed his practice.

A few hours later, he joined the team for group practice but absolutely refused to wear one of those ridiculous outfits. "I'm just fine with what I have on."

The trainer growled. "Come on! Everyone else-"

Ed slipped the collar of his shirt down to let the sun glint off his metal shoulder.

Doburoku stopped insisting.

He told them to all run in a line. "When he says 'Indian running', does he mean jogging in a line in costume?" Then Kuroki got splashed with boiling hot water. After that, all attempts at jogging failed and everyone ran as fast as they could to escape the scalding liquid. Even Edward ran in fear. He was already getting roasted by his automail, he didn't need to add boiling water to the equation! When he and the Hah brothers went to bed that night, they were asleep before their heads hit the hay.

**I've decided to focus more on Edward and the linemen during the march, we don't really see a whole lot of them in the books. Please review!**


	47. I'm In

The mouth of barrel of Hiruma's gun scratched the dirt as he drew a line between the assembled Deimon players and the airplane that would have been their ride home. It was the final morning of their stay at the Ben Ranch. "This summer, Fatty and I are training in America," Hiruma announced. "Anyone who's with us, step over this line!"

"It's a Death March!" Doburoku yelled at the boys on the other side of the line. "No one has ever survived unscathed! The weak must be weeded out!" He glowered at the Deimon players. "We can't guarantee your safety, so you're not required to stay. But," he added, eying their faces, "this year's fall season has the strongest lineup ever. This is your only chance to win."

He glanced up at the plane, with Mamori already on board. "If you get on that plane, you'll go home to your mama and your warm bed." He whipped around and seem to grow ten feet as he screamed, "Only those who are willing to die to become strong-rip up your ticket to paradise and come with us to hell!"

Rip!

Edward threw the pieces of paper at the coach and grinned. "I've already seen hell. I doubt you could dish out worse than that." For some reason, Doburoku was inclined to believe him.

"Alright, those who step over the line, introduce yourselves to me, before you die on the Death March."

"Number 30, Edward Elric! Position, Tight End."

Then Monta stepped up beside him. "Number 80, Taro Raimon, Receiver!" _There's no way a Death March is scaring me away from my dream of being the best receiver. _

Yukimitsu took a deep breath. _If I'm going to make any worthwhile memories, I have to start now. _He stepped over the line. "Number 16, Yukimitsu! Position, I don't have one yet!"

Togano scoffed at the tall, lanky boy. "No way I'm ruining my vacation." He started walking towards the plane.

Kuroki grabbed his arm. "You're giving up just like that? Don't you remember during the Nasa game? We blocked there for a second, didn't we?" The manga lover thought about that. They had, hadn't they? And They'd done it on their own, without Hiruma or Edward telling them what to do. _How can I run away when that kid's playing? He has the most reason to quit, with his limbs like that, but he was the first one over the line._ He turned and walked back to where the others still stood. _No way I'm backing down from this._ They stepped over the line.

"Number 51, Kazuki Jumonji! Position, Lineman." _I did not let that shorty shove me into the dirt during practice just to give up now!_

"Number 52, Koji Kuroki! Ditto!" _To heck with being a punk. I want to do something that actually does something worthwhile for once!_

"Number 53, Shozo Togano! I'm a lineman too!" _There's no way I'm getting left behind._

"Daikichi Komusubi!" Sena and Kurita looked down. Their smallest lineman had also stepped over the line.

Sena looked at his team. Kurita was tearing up as usual. He was probably ecstatic about the whole line taking the Death March. _This means that now, all these players really want to be on the team. Well I'm not running away. _And not even Shin's tackle was going to stop him. He stepped over the line and ripped his ticket in half. "Number 21, Sena Kobayakawa! Position running back!"

Komusubi and Yukimitsu could hardly believe their ears. Their pipsqueak of a manager was the incredible player that the whole school had been talking about?! "Haah!? You're Eyeshield 21?!" Kuroki and Togano yelled. What on earth? The kid they used to bully on a regular basis was the one they'd grudgingly admired?

Then Togano noticed Jumonji's blank expression. He grabbed the other boy's shirt. "Did you know about this?"

Jumonji rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it was pretty obvious."

Sena grinned as he watched the squabble. Everyone was coming. All the Devil Bats were going to march through hell together.

They met Mamori in a restaurant for lunch. Ed inserted himself between Sena and the players who hadn't known about Sena's field identity. And it was a good thing too. Kuroki almost whacked Sena over the head with a ketchup bottle as he gestured wildly. "You really play dirty, like when you did that TV interview," the ex-punk shouted out as the running back tried frantically to get him to quiet down. The last thing he needed was for Mamori to find out.

Apparently, Hiruma noticed. He clicked a few times on his laptop's keyboard and said, "Hey guys, on Football Monthly's website, they've got the Tokyo District fall season tournament brackets."

Monta did a fist pump. "Wow, Finaly!"

The big lineman began to quiver with excitement. "Is the fall season here at last?"

Sena nodded to Kurita and took a closer look at the names. Where was Shin's team? "Here's Deimon, but Ojo's over there."

The receiver nodded. "So we won't play Ojo until the finals."

Mamori glanced at the screen. "Who do we play in the first game?"

"The Amino Cyborgs," the quarterback answered from between bites of chicken wing. _Really, does he have to have such bad manners_, Mamori scoffed as she walked away to set the new plate of wings on the table.

Yukimitsu's eyes drifted over to their Tight End. "Does that mean the whole team is like Edward?"

Ed bopped him gently on the head. "Don't be an idiot. You really think they'd let a team like that play?"

"Sorry." He rubbed at the spot on his forehead. "But why are they called the cyborgs then?"

_Pop!_ "Every year they use sports medicine to tackle a different sport. Their teams are built using science. That's why they call themselves that." Hiruma powered down the computer and snapped it shut.

"Did they play in the spring season," Sena asked.

"If they did, they didn't make it very far. They'll be easy to beat if we survive the Death March." Hiruma headed out to where the truck and all their luggage waited, everyone else trailing behind. Time to start training.

**Wow, I thought this was the chapter I posted a few days ago. I hope you liked the changes to how the Hah brothers acted, Ed's had the biggest influence on the three of them.**

**Please Review!**


	48. Starting the Death March

They stopped a few miles down the road to fuel up the trainer's truck. "I'm going broke on gas," he whined to Hiruma.

"Don't worry," the quarterback waved it off. "That's the money from our refunded tickets back to Japan."

_He sold our tickets!? _"How are we going to get back for the fall season," Sena asked, eyes wide with slight panic. What was the good of all the training if they weren't there to use it?

Hiruma blew a bubble and popped it inside his mouth. "We'll walk all the way to Japan," he mumbled around his wad of gum.

"Walk," Yukimitsu asked. He traced the path from America to Japan in his head and balked. "What about the ocean?" _Did Hiruma have a submarine or something?_

"We have a source of money on the west coast," Hiruma explained as he rested the butt of his gun on the ground.

Doburoku added, "and since it's closer to Japan, plane tickets from there are cheaper."

The tallest player calmed down. "That's a relief."

But Mamori wasn't so convinced. "But… a source of money? Where are we going?"

"Las Vegas," the two men answered, speaking in tandem. That would have made Ed laugh, if it had been anyone else.

Instead, he rolled his eyes. "It's impossible to win at gambling. Whichever game you try, the odds are stacked against you."

"Not when I play," Hiruma answered with a grin. Ed just rolled his eyes again. The first time that demon of a player tried to cheat, he'd be tossed out of the nearest gambling house. Then Coach Doburoku announced the start of the Death March.

After the trainer split up the players based on position and gave Sena his stone to kick, he turned his attention towards Edward. If what Hiruma had told him was true, this kid didn't really need to work on anything. He was fast, strong, agile…hm. Maybe he could work out something that kept all three of those things sharp.

Doburoku rooted through the luggage on board the truck and found the two heaviest packs, both full of food supplies. He emptied and repacked both so they were of equal weight. Then he called the boy over. "You're running around the truck with one of these in each hand. Tomorrow you'll be pushing with the line."

Ed nodded and grabbed the bags. "I'll need breaks to cool down in the cab."

Steam came out of the trainer's ears. "What do you mean breaks?! This is a Death March! You don't get breaks!"

The blond pulled down the shoulder of his jacket until metal was exposed. "If this overheats, it'll cook the flesh it's attached to. Same goes for my leg."

Okay, maybe the kid had a point, but he wasn't going to give in. "If you take breaks, everyone'll want one."

The blond snorted. "If you tell them why, I guarantee they won't."

Three hours later, Edward asked for his first break. Togano overheard him and yelled, "Why does he get breaks?" Doburoku looked at the former punk and grinned. Soaked in sweat and straining, he was a prime candidate for the first collapse.

Ed answered, "My arm's overheating." He pulled down the shoulder like he had earlier. "I'm just taking a few minutes. Besides," he sneered at the manga lover, "if I'm inside, you might actually have to push."

Kuroki scowled and nearly jumped on top of the blond. "Say that to my face, you pipsqueak!"

Jumonji and Komusibi covered their ears. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE COULDN'T PUSH A DUST BUNNY'S TRICYCLE!? THAT'S IT!" He rounded on the coach. "AFTER I FINISH MY BREAK, I'M PUSHING TOO! AND YOU!" He leveled an accusatory finger at the three taller linemen. "THIS THING BETTER BE MOVING WHILE I'M INSIDE OR I'LL START HITTING YOU WITH MY RIGHT HAND!" Then he grinned and unsheathed the proffered weapon. Slowly, he curled and uncurled the fingers. "I'd say it's almost hot enough to fry an egg." They redoubled their pushing efforts. Hot water was bad enough, but when you combined that with Edward's punches? Not good.

After fifteen minutes inside the air-conditioned cab, Ed came back out and lined up beside the others behind the truck. "On the count of three, altogether push. One, two, three!" He pushed. No one else did. He glared and smacked the unfortunate Kuroki next to him with his still warm right hand. "I said push! Do it in time with each other instead of just constantly pushing and we'll get somewhere. Now one, two, THREE." The others joined in and the truck moved. After that, they switched off counting and kept pushing altogether.

With Edward switching between running with the bags and pushing the truck, the linemen walked about three quarters of the distance that the passing group did. Ed's pushing method worked wonders. _Wonder how he came up with that? _

"It's like birth contractions," the blond answered when the coach asked after they'd met up with the rest of the group for the night. "Women in labor only push for brief periods with rests in between. Besides, pushing continuously means you're not all pushing equally at the same time. If you all rest and push at your highest capacity at the same time, more force is generated and the truck moves further. It also teaches teamwork, timing, and jumping to your highest strength in a second." He grabbed his bags, strapped a headlamp on, and started running circles around the truck. Doburoku moved to the bed and counted for the linemen.

When the group finally stopped and bunked down for a day of super recovery, Togano started rooting through his bag. "What are you looking for," Jumonji asked.

"I got a new manga series just before we left." He pulled out the small book with the blond and suit of armor on the cover. "I wanted to start it on the plane, but…well." They glanced over at Edward. Jumonji nodded and walked back to his bag and Togano cracked open the first volume by Hiromu Arakawa.

**I took out the part where some of them run away, because in my version, they're already committed to the team at this point. I threw in something with bigger consequences instead. For those wondering, Taki will be on the team. I replaced Ishimaru with Ed, not Taki. I also just got hired, so this may go to updates every week or so.**

**Please Review!**


	49. Setting the Pace

The next morning, Ed walked towards Komusubi and the other linemen when Hiruma grabbed the back of his shirt to slow him. "You're running with the backs today. So no breaks."

"I'll cook," the blond muttered, but he tied ice packs to his shoulder and thigh and ran to catch up with the backs.

The quarterback inspected his lineup. "Monkey, Shrimp, Baldy, same as yesterday. Blondie, run sideways."

_What!? _ Ed looked at the quarterback. _Is he crazy? What good will that do? I'm better off training with the linemen. _Then Sena ran past him and he got a good look at the boy's face. He clearly didn't have a clue about why he was doing this, namely kicking a stone, but he was still going at it with everything he had. Well, Ed wasn't about to be beaten by a shrimp like Sena. He turned to the side and started crisscrossing up the road.

Three hours later, Edward had a substantial crick in his neck from constantly looking to the right, his hips had started to protest, and he still didn't know why he was doing this. And the burning sensation from his heated metal limbs didn't help, or the sun beating down on his back. At least he'd been able to take off his jacket and tie it around his waist, even if he knew he'd be sunburnt later. The ice packs melted within the first hour.

At lunch, Hiruma sat behind Edward and discreetly looked at the boy's back where the metal arm joined his back. Angry red surrounded the area, redder than a bad sunburn. Hiruma scowled. Why hadn't the kid told him about this? He pulled Edward aside while Sena asked Monta about pass routes. "Spend the next hour in the truck and have Manager put something on your burns."

Ed glared at him. "The others are just as hot, and it's not as bad as it was yesterday. I don't need breaks."

Swiftly, the quarterback poked the afflicted area and Edward flinched. "Take a break," Hiruma ordered. Ed growled, but did as he was told. Sena followed watched him run back as they packed up lunch. _I'm glad Hiruma let him take a break, those burns looked pretty bad. _He looked at his own sunburns and then shook himself. _No, Edward could get seriously hurt with those metal limbs if he works too hard. I don't need the same treatment. _So he located his rock and started kicking again, praying that when they met up with the others Mamori would have something for the sunburn.

The minute he entered the cab of the truck, the mother hen manager pounced on Edward. Muttering under her breath about a certain quarterback's suicidal tendencies where his fellow players were concerned, she rubbed a prodigious amount of aloe into his burns and covered the areas in athletic tape. He went back out and ran to catch up with the pass group after she'd finished and about 30 extra minutes to cool his arm and leg down with ice packs. He passed Hiruma first, then Yukimitsu and Monta.

When he finally caught up with Sena, Ed slowed his pace and ran alongside his fellow running back. The shrimp had had trouble keeping up with the others before, since he had to break every time he kicked his rock, so Ed hung back to make sure he didn't get into trouble. But he actually didn't have to slow down at all. _Hm. I wonder what happened while I was in the truck. _The kid was barely braking when he kicked the rock, and so was keeping up well with the others.

By the time they reached San Antonio a few days later, Ed had established a routine. He switched off practices, working with the linemen alternating pushing and running, and the other days he ran sideways beside Sena and sometimes Monta, returning to the truck for burn treatment and to cool down his arm and leg. Mamori constantly tried to make him give up, saying his burns were worse than before, but he refused to look at the damage. At least until tonight.

He took the last shower so he'd have time and grabbed the end of the tape Mamori had applied that morning. A quick yank and he inspected the damage in the mirror. It wasn't pretty. The skin in contact with the metal was an angry red with yellow blisters welling up off the skin. A few were busted and the skin was cracked in some places, not a good sign. Most of the surrounding skin was also red, although mercifully without the blisters. The regular burns he could leave alone, but the more serious sections would need help.

He wrapped a towel around his waist and stuck his head out of the bathroom. Mamori was handing out towels to the other boys in the hallway. "Hey Mamori," he asked, "do you have any antibiotics?"

She nodded. "Why, do you need help?"

"No. Where are they?" She pointed to their bags on the other side of the room. Ed tucked in the towel around his waist more firmly and walked across the room to one of the grocery bags. Thank goodness Mamori was such a mother hen. He didn't know any other girls who carried around this much medical supplies. Then again, they didn't have to deal with Hiruma on a daily basis. He went back into the bathroom with the cream, not noticing how several pairs of eyes followed him, focused on the blisters.

Sena traded looks with Yukimitsu and noticed Jumonji, Togano, and Kuroki doing the same. When Edward came back out with his shoulder and thigh bandaged, his bag was sitting on the last empty bed. But before he could comment, saying he didn't need their pity, Hiruma opened up his book of play cards and started drilling everyone on the different strategies, like the sweep they'd used in their last game. And if that nice soft bed didn't hurt his burns at all, Edward wasn't complaining.

**How do you like it? Please Review and tell me, I miss reading your comments and thoughts.**


	50. Taki's Introduction, Ed's Fears

After that, Mamori insisted that Edward spend the hottest hours of the day with her in the cab, and Hiruma actually agreed. Every time Ed tried to protest, the quarterback poked him in the shoulder. He was just about ready to kill Hiruma by the end of that conversation, but he acquiesced anyway. America was worse than the desert to the east of Amestris, and the fact that he was running instead of riding on horseback or in a train didn't help.

One day, when he came back from his midday ride, Sena wasn't with the pass group. "Where's Sena," he asked the blond quarterback.

"Trainer Doburoku told him that if he lost his rock, he'd have to go all the way back. He lost it, so he went to find it," Monta answered.

"You think he'll catch up?"

"To the linemen at least, " Hiruma shouted between bullet blasts. Ed took his word for it and started running sideways again. That night, two more people partook in Mamori's campfire cooking, and the story they told was absolutely wild. "A rookie going out for the pros?!" Hiruma couldn't stop laughing. "Well you had a zero percent chance of making the team."

Kurita tried to make the new teen feel better, but the kid definitely didn't need the confidence boost. "Well _I _see my success rate as a 100 percent." An eye roll was not adequate for this kid's stupidity. Ed turned back to his bowl of rice and curry and left the demon and the idiot to fling insults and oblivious remarks.

Then Sena asked, "Hiruma, would it be okay if Taki played Tight End for us?"

Ed put down his spoon. "I thought that was my position."

"No, you're more of a linebacker. We just use you as a tight end because we don't have enough players to keep you out during offensive plays." Hiruma dug his spoon back into his bowl. "Tight Ends have to be able to catch too."

"Hey, I might not be as good as monkey boy over there-"

"Hey!" Monta squeaked, but Edward acted like he hadn't heard him.

"but I can still catch! This guy's too stupid to tell which you want him to do!" Mamori looked at Edward, chest heaving from the force of his yells. The shorter blond stomped off and she followed him.

"If he can make it to the end of the death march, then I might consider him," Hiruma replied to Sena before walking back to the truck with a stick of gum in his mouth. _If he does make it, _Hiruma thought, _I'll have to be careful can't have one blondie running off because there's a different one on the team. _Still, he'd never seen Edward get really angry like that. It was almost like he was… afraid.

Ed walked up the road a ways and started to run through his martial arts routine. _They're not getting rid of me that easily. I might not be able to catch like he expects, but there's no way that idiot can beat me at strength or speed. _He landed from a flip. _I'll just have to make sure Hiruma knows that. Then he'll have to keep me on the team! _He leapt into the air again. _And that stupid Sena! Why did he have to bring the guy with him? I'm the one who saves his sorry butt against all those players, but he thinks they need someone else? _He smashed the dirt with his right hand, leaving a small crater in the ground. He stopped and glared at the metal. _Is this about my arm? They think I can't playbecause I have these? I did just fine before they knew, that one thing doesn't change anything! I thought I made that clear on the plane ride, but I guess I'll have to say it again. _He landed on his left leg with a crash and bit back a curse. He really shouldn't be doing this with his burns. But he couldn't ask the others to spar with them, he might hurt them.

He shook it off and walked back to the truck. Mustang had never tried to replace him when he was part of the man's crew, but that was probably because he was the best the military could offer in his field. _What if I hadn't been-No, he wouldn't have traded me out. And I WAS the best. _He'd just have to be the best in this one too. _If I beat that idiot Taki at whatever he tries, they'll have no choice but to keep me._

The next morning, the gang got ready for practice. Ed ran sideways next to Sena, who zigzagged back and forth across the road. He glanced back over his shoulder and noticed Taki standing several yards behind them, completely exhausted. Yep, there was no way this chump was going to last. But the fact that Edward had him beaten galvanized the boy. Suddenly he was whizzing alongside them, pulling his younger sister on a rope behind him. "Hey you guys! It's too easy for me without a handicap," he said as he ran past Sena and Ed.

"That idiot," Sena heard Edward mumble as he switched directions so his back was facing Sena. Ed's hands were clenched into fists. _Huh, _Sena noticed. _I wonder why his hands are shaking. He must be really mad. _The blond refused to take his break that day.

When they did their night training, Edward strapped some of the tools from the truck to his flesh arm. "What are you doing?" the trainer asked.

"Regular pushing isn't enough. My tackles have to be strong too."

_If he keeps this up, he'll be the first to collapse. _Doburoku worried. _What happened, he trained before, but not like this. _He still counted for the linemen, but Togano noticed that he kept pushing with only his flesh arm. When the boy asked, he said it was because his metal arm didn't need to get stronger, since it didn't have muscle that needed to be maintained. After two days of this increased regime, Mamori noticed that whenever something bumped his right shoulder, he tensed. What was going on?

**After his breakdown about Nina, I don't think this is OOC for Edward. Please review if you think otherwise! I can't wait to post the Casino chapter!**


	51. They Made It

Around the thirteenth day of the march, Ed was back with the pushing crew, and the hills were finally getting to them. "Even if we push all at once," Kuroki gasped out, "even the tiniest incline is murder."

"Don't push with your arms! Use your butts to push forward." The trainer demonstrated.

The six pushers looked at each other and nodded. "Worth a shot," Ed muttered. "On three. One." They all planted their feet behind them. "Two." Arms firm on the truck, they bent their legs. "Three!" All six slammed their behinds forward at the same time. The truck jumped forward. "Yes!" Jumonji slapped Komusubi on the back. Edward set his flesh hand against the truck. "Again!" He was going to get so strong from this that he could take down that idiot blond with one finger.

Six more days into the death march when the team rode in the truck to refuel and let their muscles recover, the big machine sputtered to a halt. "Man, only 21 days into the march and we're already out of gas." Ed ran ahead to get the backs and they put their heads together. Ed was all for the bomb rig. Hey, it could have worked! The other's attempts were just laughable, especially Monta's sign. His spelling looked nothing like the actual word.

"Okay," he said, rolling up his sleeves. "My turn." He flipped Monta's sign over and scrawled something on the back. Then he slipped his jacket on, walked out to the middle of the road, and started shaking the sign. The next car stopped.

Sena leaned over to Mamori, whose English grades were passable. "What did he write?"

She looked at the sign and smiled. "Just the truth." The sign read, "I'm asking nicely. Pull over, and you won't find out what happens further down the road." Considering what Hiruma would do to them if the drivers did ignore them, Edward was right.

The 30th day of the Death March was one of the rare rest periods. Togano settled down not too far from Edward's prone form. _This is stupid, _he thought. _There's no way. _He flipped open the manga book in his hands and looked for the really good picture of the main character's automail. Glancing between Edward and the book, he compared the drawn to the real. It had the grooves on the forearm, the circles on the knuckled of the hand, heck even the wire work looked like a perfect match. But there was no way, right? Characters didn't just hop out of books and into your life, and he'd met Edward before he saw the first volume of this. Man, now he really regretted not reading the whole Shonen Jump magazine instead of just his favorite stories. But there was no way, right?

They finally reached the end of the Death March forty days after they started. Blazing ahead was the city of Las Vegas, in all its brightly lit, fantastical glory. The gang unpacked in front of a veritable wall of fountains. "The whole team ran all 2,000 km of the Death March!" Ed sagged against the railing of the fountain area and looked back at his teammates. A few of them had collapsed onto the pavement but some, like Sena and Komusubi, were still standing. But everyone was here. No one had dropped out. He smiled.

Then he spotted a certain blond idiot and scowled. He'd made it too, unfortunately, even pulling his sister the whole way. He'd tried to get Mamori to let him do the same with her, but she'd refused on account of his health, even though Suzuna had offered her spare roller skates. _Stupid manager, _ he'd growled to himself. _I could handle Scar, I could sure handle a little run in the sun. _But she'd poked him in the shoulder, threatening to keep doing it until he stopped arguing with her. Why did everyone do that to him?

Then Doburoku started giving a speech. "I underestimated you guys. I never thought you'd all make it," he admitted. "With your increased stamina, you should be a lot stronger than you were a month ago."

"Really?" Togano wondered aloud. "The truck did seem to get lighter."

"But that won't be enough to beat the powerful teams in the east! You lasted through this torture to the end! Experience and courage helped you uncover your true abilities." He took a swig from his sake bottle. "In a sense, football is a triumph of will. That's what I'm betting on. Now let's have a drink for finishing the run," he shouted at the team. "You ran a great 2,000 KM! You're the best!"

"That was quite a speech, but no one was listening," Hiruma cackled from beside the mound of collapsed players.

Ed looked at the puppy pile of teammates and laughed. "Let's get these guys to a hotel room." He picked up Kurita and Sena and started walking. When they finally found a place, Sena and Monta just collapsed onto the beds and were subjected once again to Hiruma's bullets. Edward waited until Mamori had finished with the quarterback and her mop before asking, "Do you have more antibiotics?"

Her heart fell. _That means he got burned again. And after all the precautions we took._ But she smiled and said, "Yes. I'll get them for you." She rifled through one of the bags. _Why did he push himself so hard that he has burns again? Even Hiruma knew he had to rest. _Finally, she found the small bottle and turned around. Ed was glaring at Taki like he wanted to burn a hole through the teen's skull. Why would he be angry with Taki? Then she remembered the first night the boy had been introduced to the team and the bottle nearly fell out of her hands. She hurried forward and handed the bottle to the blond, escaping as quickly as she could without raising suspicion.

They had all been so stupid! How could they not have noticed, especially after he started training more than was healthy for him? Why hadn't she noticed? He'd been so afraid of getting replaced. She smiled at that. Big, strong Edward could get scared too. Somehow, that just made him all the ore human. But that didn't mean she wasn't going to have a serious talk with both him and Hiruma the next morning.

**Well, that's the end of the Death March. Next chapter, the crew takes on Vegas.**

**Please Review!**


	52. Las Vegas

The next day, the Devil Bats descended on the casinos of Las Vegas. Hiruma used two thirds of the money he'd made by selling Doburoku's truck, the other third going to Edward. He traded in the cash for chips and grinned as he glanced around the main floor, all the Devil Bats behind him. "And now, let the games begin." They scattered.

Sena and Monta raced over to the roulette table, a game of pure luck with pretty good chances, if you kept your head and didn't get overconfident. The other linemen headed for the slot machines, again, a game only reliant on luck, but with much worse chances. Ed predicted they wouldn't be seeing a profit from them. A smirk stayed firmly plastered on his features every time he saw the blond idiot roll snake eyes. And he was even worse at betting. At least Mamori seemed to have pretty good luck. Ed passed up these flashier attractions. He wanted something that actually required skill and not just blind luck. There, he had a much better chance. Then he found the poker tables.

A few hours later, Doburoku, Kurita, and Komusubi gathered in the bar area with Yukimitsu. The teen counted up their piles of chips and did a few calculations in his notebook. "Let's see now. With everyone's wins and losses, We're up exactly five dollars."

Kurita's confidence wobbled. "That's a little short of twenty million."

"More than a little," added the three brothers, who turned up suspiciously dressed.

The manager leaned over the railing and tried to scan the crowds below. "Where are Sena, Edward, and the others?" She spotted two of them, Sena and Monta, by the roulette table and pointed them out to Kurita and the others. Then she almost fell over the railing when she saw the towering piles of chips in front of them.

Ed laughed to himself from the other side of the roulette table as the other team members fussed over the two boys. Then Monta shouted, "Bet all of it on Eyeshield's number 21!" He pushed forward the huge stacks of chips.

Most of Monta's stacks toppled as Ed slammed his hand down on the table. He glared at the monkey boy. "Bet one or two smaller stacks, not the whole thing." the receiver had the grace to look sheepish as he pulled back most of the chips and left one of the smaller stacks on the table. Ed decided to wager as well and put an orange chip down, betting on the number 5. He chuckled and raked in the $1,800 he'd just won while the team's punk squad beat some more sense into Monta. He could see Mamori scooping up the leftover chips, no doubt getting them away from the monkey.

The group minus Edward migrated over to the black jack tables, Yukimitsu explaining about counting cards on the way. Five games later, Monta's head started to steam. "Forget it!" Sena complained. "I can't even memorize ten cards."

The taller teen laughed at their naivety. "That isn't humanely possible. Besides, the casino would go under." Then Kurita noticed Hiruma at one of the other tables. The group moseyed over and watched, spellbound, as the piles of chips next to Hiruma grew with every game. The second year catcher looked on in slight terror. This guy was impossible! What was he made out of? Once Hiruma had cleaned the table of chips, he moved on to the next one.

Once his briefcase couldn't hold any more chips, he walked to the exchange desk. But while they were standing in line, he noticed something. "Where's Blondie?" The group looked around for a second. Edward was nowhere to be found. Hiruma growled and headed back into the Casino to look for him, teammates trailing behind him.

When they saw the crowd around the poker tables, the quarterback headed straight for it, using a few handguns and choice devilish cackles to clear the way. His grin widened at the sight of Edward with his boots on the table and a small pile of light blue and brown chips in front of him. The pile in the middle of the table was considerably bigger. He glanced around at the other players. Several had their heads in their hands, others looked terrified. Only one person looked like they were still in the game.

"I'm raising by another thousand!" The boy was in what looked like a school uniform, with a light blue blazer and dark blue tie. He shoved a small mountain on chips or a dozen different colors onto the pile in the middle. He flipped his light blond bangs out of his bluish-purple. "Shall we continue, my fine gentleman?"

Edward grinned. "How much did you just put on the table?"

The other boy shrugged and waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "Only $3,275." The crowd around them gasped and Hiruma's eyes widened just the slightest amount. Who was this kid, to throw around that much cash? Edward couldn't possibly match that, not with the amount of chips he currently had in front of him. Then Hiruma looked again. Were those chips…brown?

Edward picked up a single brown chip. "I'll bet this then." He placed the solitary chip in the middle of the table. "Shall we end it this round, then?"

The teen at the other end of the table nodded and flipped his hand. "Full house, my fine fellow." He smiled at the other youth. "You were a fine opponent."

"Yes, I was." Edward turned his hand around. A heart, spade, club, and diamond looked back at the lighter-haired teen. Four aces. "Thank you for the fight." Reached for the pile and pushed the chip equivalent of over fifty thousand dollars off the table into a large bag. He got up and walked over to the other teen. "Thanks." He shook hands with the youth.

The other boy smiled. "I would like to stay in touch with you." He handed the boy a business card. "Now I must be going." Then he was kidnapped by a pair of ginger twins and a dark-haired boy with glasses. Ed shrugged, pocketed the small card, and headed over to where the Devil Bats stood, slightly in awe of what they'd just witnessed.

Ed said, "Let's get these changed out. We probably have enough to pay off the debt and get some pretty good seats for the flight back." Actually, after the debt was paid off and first class seats bought for the whole team, they still had close to fifty thousand left over. Tomorrow, they would head back to Japan and the Fall Tournament.

**I had a fabulous time writing this. It took a little research, but it was worth it. What did you guys think? There's an easter egg buried here as well!**

**Please Review!**


	53. Manga Again

_Crash! _Hiromu dropped the bag of fan letters and manila envelope with that week's chapter. He didn't mean to, his fingers just lost their grip on reality when he saw Edward. The kid had a deep tan and was extra muscular around the shoulder and arm. But it was the second degree burns around the metal plating of his automail that really got to the man. He charged inside and grabbed Edward by the unburnt shoulder. "What have you been doing to yourself?! Where's the first aid kit?" Ed tried to shake him off, saying he had the treatment under control, but Hiromu snorted. "Ed, I know what you did in Amestris. Do you really think I believe you actually take care of yourself?"

Yes, the boy wanted to say, but then he remembered that time he got skewered by a pole after his fight with Kimbley. "It's in the kitchen above the sink with instructions." The manga artist made him promise to stay seated while he went and got the white box.

He whetted a small cotton ball in a cup of water from the sink and began dabbing at Edward's burns along his shoulder. "What were you doing to get this bad of burns?"

"Marching around America." Hiromu looked at him like he was nuts. So Edward wound up telling the artist everything, from the idiot he'd punched in the face at the beach to the blond kid he battled at poker.

He switched out the damp cotton ball for one soaked in an antibiotic ointment. "I thought you cheated when you played poker."

Ed winced at the sting from the medicine and said, "Nah, I'm actually pretty good without having to cheat. And this kid didn't have that good of a poker face. I just had to keep raising the stakes until the others dropped out. Do you have to do this right now?" He pulled away from the probing ball of white and glowered at the man.

The older man reached out and began his ministrations with the cotton again. "Either you let me do this now or after we finish looking over the chapter. Hang on, I'm almost done." He put a little more ointment on the ball and resumed his dabbing. "So do you think the team has gotten better?"

"Absolutely," Ed answered through slightly clenched teeth. Hiromu was being far more thorough than he was with the treatment. "But I still don't get why they made me run sideways."

"Well, usually Linebackers have to run with their bodies turned in the direction they're going, so it impairs their vision of what's happening with their opponents when they run to the side. If they're running to the left, they're looking at the left area of the field, not the front where their opponents are." The artist put down the cotton and picked up a roll of bandages. "If you can run to the right or left without turning your body, you can keep a better eye on who's coming and respond quicker."

"Hm." Edward held still as Hiromu bandaged him up.

"Alright, now take off your pants."

"What?!" Ed bolted from the couch and stood by the doorway.

Hiromu laughed. "I meant so I can treat your leg. What did you think I meant?"

The blond stalked back to the couch and sat back down with a huff. "Whatever. Can we just look over the chapter?"

"While I treat your leg. Now come on, pants off." Ed reluctantly slipped out of his favored leather and opened up the slightly crumpled manila folder. He flipped through the pages with only the occasional flinch as the wet cotton probed the more tender burn areas. Once Hiromu was finished, he sat down next to Edward. "So how was it?"

The alchemist grinned. "I don't think you have to have me check them over anymore. I couldn't find a single mistake, except my height." Hiromu batted at him playfully and Edward dodged, grinning. "But seriously, what did you do while I was gone?"

"Write up the chapters and pray you wouldn't ambush me after you got back to point out some glaring mistake I'd made."

Ed rolled his eyes. "I'm not a bully."

The other man snorted. "Try telling that to Loki or one of the victims of your short rants."

He really shouldn't have said that last part. Edward pounced. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE CAN'T FLIP THE PAGES OF A BOOK WITHOUT THE LADDER EQUIVALENT OF A SKY SCRAPER!?"

Hiromu took his fingers out of his ears and scoffed. "There, like that! That was what I was afraid of!"

Ed just rolled his eyes. "Are you done insulting me? Or is there something else you wanted to do today?" The artist grinned and brought out the huge bag of fan letters. Edward rolled his eyes. "I told you not to bring those things in here. I lived that, I don't want to hear someone else's opinion on my life!"

But Hiromu grinned as he opened one of the letters and started reading out loud. "Dear Arakawa-San," Edward tried to cover his ears with one of the couch throw pillows. "I just wanted to say that I love Edward because he cares so much about Alphonse and always helps him when he needs it. After I read about how he stood up to Greed to keep Alphonse safe, I did the same thing, standing up to bullies who were teasing my little brother. Thank you for writing such an amazing character!"

Ed took the pillow off his head. Hiromu opened another letter. "Dear Arakawa-san, reading about how much Edward and Alphonse care about each other has helped me a lot. I wrote a letter to my estranged sister after reading the chapter where Alphonse accuses Edward about making him, and Winry tells him what Edward was really afraid to say. We're meeting tomorrow at a café, all because those two gave me the courage. Thank you."

"Dear Edward-san," Ed ripped the letter out of the artist's hands and read it himself.

_Dear Edward-san,_

_ You are amazing and inspire me so much. I was born without use of my legs and always felt like I wasn't as good as the others around me. Then I read about you, and how you didn't really have a full working body either, but still managed to do so much, like saving all those people on the train and in that mining town. I'm studying for college exams now instead of just feeling sorry for myself, and plan to go into the sciences. Even if you are just a character, you were the person who helped me feel secure in my own skin and helped me move forward. Thank you._

He folded the letter and looked at his friend. "They're all like that," Hiromu said to the former alchemist, "thanking me for something they thought I made up. I thought you should have them. Edward nodded. "It's funny. You're the main character, but the thing people notice the most about you is how much you and Alphonse loved each other." The blond's eyes were now unusually bright. "I'll see you next week." He exited the apartment.

**The cameo last chapter was the Ouran boys, but I enjoyed reading the review from the guest who thought it was Harry Potter. I didn't realize the similarities until you pointed them out to me, and I used to be a huge fan of those books! By the way, is anyone going to Sakura Con in Seattle in a few weeks?**

**Please Review!**


	54. The Days Before

Three days after they returned from America and got back into the swing of things at Deimon high school, the Devil Bats headed for their clubhouse after practice to find out who would be the players on the team for the fall season. Ed glared at Taki from the other side of the room. If he got kicked out because of that stupid blond…well he'd just find somewhere to hide the body. "All the guys whose names I call out, we'll use for both offense and defense." Kurita dumped the box of clay figures out on the football side of the table. "First," Hiruma slammed the figure with the pointy ears down, "the quarterback. That's me! Next, four linemen." He looked down at the folder with his notes for the team. "Kurita, Komusubi, Togano, and Kuroki."

"What?" Togano stuttered. "But-"

"Jumonji and Edward will switch between running back and lineman depending on the play." The brothers breathed with relief. For a second, they'd thought that, well, that Jumonji hadn't made the cut. "Eyeshield is our permanent running back. Tight end is," and Hiruma glanced at Taki. Despite the boy's earlier bluster, sweat had beaded on his upper lip and the boy was tense. "Natsuhiko Taki." Edward put a hand over his ear as Sena, Suzuna, and half the team roared to life, congratulating the new player. He rolled his eyes at Taki's sudden burst of confidence. Like the guy hadn't been shaking like a leaf before Hiruma said his name.

"Lastly, two receivers." Ed perked up. He actually wanted to know about this. "Taro Raimon, and one other!" Ed glanced at the only rookie second year. He'd trained as hard as the rest of them during the death march, but… "We'll alternate using one of the basketball players as a substitute. Satake or Yamaoka."

"What!?" Mamori yelled as she hurried around the table towards Hiruma. Edward sank into his chair. It had been the right call, Yukimitsu wasn't good enough yet, but still…

Hiruma tossed the black folder of team assignments and walked out the door. "That's it! Listen to Doburoku for each of your defensive positions." Mamori chased him as he went out and the rest stopped listening as Doburoku listed off who was what defensive position. "Defensive linemen are Jumonji, Togano, Kuroki, Komusubi, and Kurita. Middle linebacker is Edward, Taki and one of the substitutes are the outside linebackers. Monta and the other substitute are cornerbacks. Hiruma and Sena are safeties." He closed the folder and told everyone to get out of their uniforms and ready to go home.

Taki whipped his jacket on with a flourish and turned around to comment to Edward on how he would try to help the boy become as great a linebacker. As he watched, Edward removed his under armor. The taller blond looked like he'd just swallowed wasabi. Suzuna saw his face and asked,"What's wrong now?" She turned and froze. "Wha-what?" Edward slid his shirt back over his arm and slung his jacket over his arm. Slowly, he walked to the door. Suzuna shook herself and glared at Monta and Sena. "Explain."

The boys froze under the slightly heated gaze. "Explain what?"

"Why is someone like _that _on our team?" She jabbed her finger in the direction of the open door. "How can he even play like that?"

"Actually," Sena said, voice growing stronger, "Edward is one of our best players, better than Me or Hiruma."

The skater didn't look convinced. "He can run the 40 yard dash in 4.4 seconds," added Monta, "And I think only Kurita is stronger than him. We probably would have lost the Nasa and Taiyo games without him."

"But, his arm…doesn't that hurt?"

"Not really," Sena answered Suzuna, "only when you take it off and put it back on." Taki turned a bit green and ran outside. Limbs coming off… that was not an image he wanted in his head. He was so busy he didn't notice the shorter player grinning from where he leaned just outside the door to the clubhouse.

A few days later, everyone crowded around Mamori as she Drew a black X over yet another day on the calendar. Only three days to go! Ed spent most of the day out on the field, throwing himself against the blocking equipment. But this time, he didn't strap extra weights to his arms and used his whole body. He couldn't really be on his game if only half of him was at its best, now could he?

Two days to the start of the fall season, and when Hiromu finally saw Edward back at the youth's apartment, the blond was trembling like he was having a seizure. "Are you alright?" the artist asked.

"Very hard practice," Ed mumbled before he collapsed through the unlocked door. Hiromu decided to come back after the start of the fall season.

Then, with one day to go, Kurita vanished. "But the fall season starts tomorrow!" Monta yelled, clutching his football.

Sena headed for the door. "Where could he have gone?"

"We should probably split up and look for him," Jumonji added. The group assigned each other different areas and took off to look for the big lineman.

Hiruma headed for the storage shed. Sure enough, the vaulting horse was shaking from the force of the trembling boy hid inside it. "Just as I thought, you fatty. Whenever you're scared to death, you hide in the vaulting horse."

"Hiruma," asked the boy inside the piece of equipment, "Do you believe in reincarnation? Could I be a high school student just one more year? This isn't anything like last year's fall season. Back then, I thought we'd have another shot. But now this year's…"

But Hiruma wasn't having it. "Stop whining and get out of there! We finally have a team to back us up and you're just going to hide and let us fight without you? Idiot!" He fired at the vaulting horse, making Kurita and the whole thing jump several feet in the air.

On their way to the shop classroom to find something to hopefully get Kurita out of his predicament, they passed their old classroom. "Look, it's the first years' room 2!" Hiruma stopped and turned around as his friend reminded him. Was it still there?

Aparrently yes. The TV he, Musashi, and Kurita had written their goal on was still…Hiruma's mind temporarily stopped working when he saw the side of the TV.

Their original message had only filled up about the bottom half of the side of the TV, even writing as large as he could. At the time, Hiruma had been trying to fill the space where other names, of more players should have gone. But now the side was crammed with names in other handwriting.

"Kozuki Jumonji"

"Koji Kuroki"

"Shozo Togano"

"Suzuna!"

"Mamori Anejaki"

"Edward Elric"

"Taro Raimon"

"Doburoku Sakaki"

"Daikichi Komusubi"

"Sena Kobayakawa"

"Natsuhiko Taki"

"Manabu Yukimitsu"

Kurita busted right out of the vaulting horse when he saw that, and Hiruma almost wanted to do the same.

**I really, really wanted to do something with the TV. How did you guys like it?**


	55. Season Starts

"Edo TV presents the opening ceremony of the national high school football season. It's almost about to begin." Sena could barely hear the loudspeaker's announcement over the ruckus of the crowd.

"Finally," Monta said. He looked seriously fired up.

Sena eyed the crowds. "I'm getting nervous." _This is way worse than the Nasa game, _he thought. _Because if we lose here, that's it, especially for Hiruma and Kurita. We'll never get the chance to get Musashi back on the team if we lose today._

Then he fell on his face as someone startled him and Monta with a push from behind. "What?" Suzuna chided teasingly. "Are you two scared already?"

Both short stacks jumped to their feet and their defense. "Do you think that men get scared at the opening ceremony?" Monta tried to bluster.

Ed rolled his eyes. "Boys get scared at the opening ceremony. Men wait until their first game." The receiver sagged. Ed smirked. _I could hear their knees knocking from here._

He looked over at Kurita to tell him to help the others calm down because he was better at that sort of thing than the rest of them, only to have his hand meet his forehead. The big kid's whole body was shaking. "R-r-right, e-everybody tried their best. As long as the gods are watching over us." He seemed to calm down a bit when he pulled a rolled up slip of paper from his pocket. "This morning I went and got a fortune from our temple." Oh yeah, Ed had forgotten he lived with a monk. He unrolled the slip and started trembling even worse than before. "It said, 'extremely bad luck'."

The alchemist knocked the piece of paper right out of him hands. "It's a good thing we don't' need luck then." He looked around at his slightly terrified teammates. "You honestly think a team grown in a test tube is harder to beat than Nasa?"

Yukimitsu stopped shaking. "That's right. Americans are the cream of the crop in football. They invented to sport."

He nodded. "Exactly. America's the veterans. The Cyborgs are rookies, even more so than us. Are they really something to be scared of?"

"No!" Monta shouted. The blond grinned. _Who knew Mustangs tactic for rookie soldiers worked so well on this bunch? _They headed to their locker rooms.

Yukimitsu was reading off rules and schedule details to the team as they changed into their uniforms when there was a thunder of footsteps in the hall outside. Ed stuck his head through the doorway. _Oh great, _he growled, immediately pulling his head back in. _I hate doctors. _

The swarm of white coats approached their door. The leader bulldozed right through Sena and Yukimitsu and held out a hand towards Kurita. "I'm Munakata, of the Animo cyborgs!" So this was their opponent? Ed decided to shake things up.

He grabbed the proffered hand with his right and squeezed as he shook it and said, "Edward Elric, of the Deimon Devil Bats!" He smiled in a way that promised pain. "Good luck in today's game!"

Munakata looked at the kid currently crushing his muscled fingers. "Same to you." He pulled his hand out of the vise-like grip and started the show by ripping off his long white coat in time with the others.

Edward rolled his eyes as Sena and Monta went crazy over the guy's shiny muscles. Apparently Hiruma found it funny too. The boy laughed and commented, "This isn't a bodybuilding championship."

A shaking Monta added, "their muscles look totally artificial."

"Haha," the man laughed. "I'm glad they're-" The alchemist shut the door and blocked out the rest of the shiny man's speech. He turned and glared at the two short stacks. They immediately ducked and got back to their uniforms.

Ed looked back at the door. "Artificial, huh? Then let's see how you do against the real stuff." He looked back at the three punks and the four players shared a grin. There was no way Amino was going to win.

Out on the field, it was uproar. The announcer spoke over the loudspeaker as the first team walked onto the field. "The fall season begins at last! Each team will be led onto the field by their manager. First up is one of the favorites. Storming the season, it's Amino!" Munakata stopped massaging his crushed fingers and waved at the crowd as he strode onto the field behind the flag with all his teammates trailing after him. "Their habit of dominating a different sport each year leaves me cold," continued the voice through the stadium. "It's weird how far they go with their training."

The Deer, Wild Gunmen, Devil Bats, and White Knights walked onto the field surrounded by commentary, usually complimentary. Once the field was filled to the brim with teams and managers, the director of the league took the stage in front. He looked out over the vast number of players. He cleared his throat of the lump that had suddenly occupied it. "Hello everyone. Everyone here is striving for something. That 'something' would be victory. But from among you all, only one team will go to the Christmas Bowl." And that was all it took. The air shifted with that single remark and he could practically taste the competition in the air. He loved this sport.

"I mean to say this truthfully, without fear of being misunderstood. In football, we are not looking for sportsmanship in you." _Great, he just gave everyone here license to fight dirty, _Ed thought. He glanced at Hiruma. _We'll take full advantage of that, I'm sure. "_No award is given to the loser for having fighting spirit. In this world, the winner receives all the glory. You have but one objective and that is, to win!" The crowd erupted into cheers." He smiled at the cheering, excited mass in the stands and the determined horde of players in front of him. "And now, the National High School Football Championship, will begin!"

**I'm so excited! I'm going to Sakura Con next week, and get to meet Vic! Plus, my cosplay is Edward. Screw the limiters of gender, I'm doing all boys!**

**Please Review! This story will dry up and die without them.**


	56. Landslide

Of course, going into a game missing one of your key players and the team idiot was not how the Devil Bats wanted to start the season. "What are they doing, those two idiots?!" Hiruma screamed.

Monta looked around. "The stragglers are Sena and Taki?" he asked Komusubi. The boy nodded.

"And Eyeshield," added Mamori. She lowered her cell phone from her ear. "I can't get through to his cell." Kurita started trembling again.

Ed smacked him on the back and smiled so wide his eyes almost vanished. "Well we'll just have to score on these guys so much that they beg us not to bring Eyeshield onto the field!"

Hiruma fixed up a mock Eyeshield and went over the offensive plays with Edward standing in for Sena. "Blondie will go-" a roar sounded from the other side of the field. "What?"

Hiruma scowled at the neat little nurse skirts on the other side of the field. "Okay everybody, let's root for the amino cyborgs!" the girls squealed to the fans on their side of the field. _That's it, _he thought and he hit the button to fire off the rigged fireworks to signal the girl-shrimp.

Suzuna skated onto the field with eight hot girls, all in the Deimon cheerleader's getup. The crowd went wild as they started their routine, gawking over the pretty ones and complaining about the shrimpy one, earning Suzuna's ire. "Where did all the cheerleaders come from?" Kurita asked, mostly to himself.

"Drafted from America," Hiruma answered. All he'd had to promise was a trip to a hot spring, and they'd clamored for the tickets.

Jumonji turned and looked out over the field. "Now's our chance. Before Eyeshield gets here, we have a chance to prove how strong we are from all that training."

His two best friends grinned. Togano laughed. "We've really turned into sportsmen," Kuroki said and he brushed his bangs out of his face. To think they used to be punks. Well, at least they still got to beat people up in this sport.

The loudspeakers blared out, "We're about to begin the first round of the national high school football championship. It's the Deimon Devil Bats vs. the Amino Cyborgs."

The Devil Bats got into their huddle. "We don't have the full team together." Their faces fell. "But that's how it goes. It's just like the fact we don't have a kicker."

The teammates nodded. "Until we're all together, we can't lose," Monta burst out.

"We're going to the Christmas bowl." The other players nodded. "All of us, together!" then a grin lit up the devil's face. "And what do we do to the jerks who try to get in the way of that?"

"We do whatever it takes." A missive inhale as the whole team got ready to shout. "WE KILL 'EM!"

The loudspeaker announced the start of the game and the two teams walked onto the field, ready for their first major battle of the season.

Ed sized up the other team. They had some pretty big linemen, even if those linemen had been grown in a test tube. If they had a chance, any chance, Deimon's line would have to find a way around those muscles. _Just like me and Al beat Armstrong. _Of course, it wasn't quite the same, but it still made Ed smile.

On his way to his position behind Hiruma so he could do a run past the Amino guys, Ed muttered to Kuroki, "don't forget that hip thruster move we learned on the march." The ex-punk nodded and passed on the message to the others in the line. Ed took his position behind Hiruma and got ready to run.

Hiruma noticed that the bigger lineman with glasses was up against Kuroki. Usually a team put their strongest lineman up against Kurita. Did the cyborgs hope to overwhelm them where they were weak? Glacing at Kuroki to calculate the risk of letting him stay there, he noticed how the player's cleats firmly dug into the turf, with only a short distance between the feet. His stance was lower than usual with his butt stuck out. He scanned the line. All of them were standing the same way. _Must be something Dobukoru taught them. _He let the assignments stay as originally planned and called, "Hut!"

The ball went back into Hiruma's long fingers and he transferred it to Edward's steel grip. The Deimon line started pushing. _Keep my stride short and stance low, _Togano thought at he pushed against his opponent. _Use my hips and throw my whole body into it. _Jumonji thrust forward, knocking the big Amino player off balance just long enough for Edward to squeeze through.

He transferred the ball to a tight grip in his right arm and knocked the first Amino linebacker aside. "Edward Elric, Deimon's number 30 has the ball and is blazing up the field! Can he get past Amino's star, Munakata?"

The behemoth stood right in Edward's path and the crowd roared as the two players raced towards each other. The alchemist considered his options. Two guys behind Munakata, on either side. They could catch him if he tried to slip past on the side. Acrobatics wouldn't help, he needed both his hands for that. And he had to keep the ball. He ran his eyes over the other player. Where was his weakness? Then he spotted it.

Munakata eyed the shrimp in front of him. There was no way someone this undersized could slip past him. He just had to step in the direction the boy turned to go past him and- What? Why wasn't he turning? Was he giving himself up?

Ed turned on the brakes and let his feet leave the ground as the momentum of the charge carried him forward. The crowd gasped and then roared as the small running back slid right through the bigger player's legs! The players behind Munakata leapt forward and tackled the blond, but the crazy play had gotten the Devil Bats an extra three yards. Now they were fourteen yards closer to the end zone and still had four more chances. And Sena wasn't even there yet.

**I have decided to completely abandon Canon for this game. It's so much more fun to just mess with all the characters. Who liked the sliding move Edward did? Oh, and this is moving to weekly updates on Sundays. Sorry guys.**

**Please Review!**


	57. Made the First Round

The crowd could taste the forward momentum of the team as they returned to the sidelines to plan their next attack. "We're going for a pass but we can't let the other team know that," Hiruma muttered to his team.

"Are we doing a trick handoff," Togano asked.

The quarterback nodded. "Edward will pretend to grab the ball and run just like he did last time. Line, make a space for him. Monkey, you run around the side and get ready for a throw. Blondie," Ed looked right at him. "If they realize you don't have the ball, go guard Monkey like you usually guard Eyeshield. Take down anyone within arm's reach." The blond nodded and the team broke the huddle.

When the cyborgs lined up against Deimon, Ed saw that they'd pitted the guy with the dreadlocks against Komusubi. He passed Jumonji on the way and grumbled, "These guys are so tall that they could trip over their own feet." He glanced towards the ridiculously mismatched pair and saw Jumonji look the same way. He grinned and brushed the shorter boy's shoulder to get his attention as Edward walked back to his spot behind Hiruma.

As Edward ran forward with nothing but air in his arms, he saw Komusubi attack the bigger lineman from below and throw him on his stomach. Perfectly executed. The running back blazed through the gap the tripped lineman provided just like he had last time.

All the players on the Amino side of the field gravitated towards the short figure, giving Monta all the room he needed to run up the side for the pass. He made it thirty yards into enemy territory before they discovered the ruse when the elliptical ball flew over their heads. The players turned and started to run towards Monta. Edward traced the shot with his eyes and saw Monta standing just a few yards from the end zone. He had to stay there to catch the pass, he couldn't move to avoid a tackle or he might miss the pass. Edward wasn't about to let that happen.

Putting on a burst of speed, he ran through the crowd of players now ignoring him and reached out with his left arm. The Amino player at the front of the group headed for the Deimon receiver felt a snag on his jersey just before pain ripped through him from his right side where Ed's fingers had gripped his ribs. Both boys went down, halting the other Cyborg players as they tried to maneuver around the two bodies heaped on the field, but none of them were fast enough. Monta caught the pass and ran right into the end zone.

"And there we have a magnificent play from the Devil Bats. Number thirty doubled as a decoy and extra protection for the receiver to run up the field and catch a long bomb, resulting in a touchdown! The first touchdown of the season goes to the Deimon Devil Bats! And they didn't need the legendary Eyeshield 21 to get it." The loudspeaker blasted over the field, hardly heard above the cheering from the Deimon side of the field.

Kumabukuro smiled fondly at his favorite team. "It wasn't just the receiver of running back. If number 55 hadn't tripped one of the players, number 30 wouldn't have made it through the wall of Amino linemen. He made the whole play possible." Komusubi beamed at the compliment. Hiruma grinned and laid out their defensive stragety against the Cyborgs, with the team getting more and more pumped up.

When Sena finally got off the motorbike and onto the field, he fully expected to have to save his team from utter destruction. But that wasn't what he saw at all. Suzuna had whipped the crowds into a cheering frenzy, banging their sticks together and yelling encouragement to the team sitting on the bench for a brief reprieve. They looked more relaxed than they'd sounded when Kurita had called to find out what had gone wrong. The big lineman caught an airborne Edward as Sena watched; hugging him once the boy was back in his arms. The three brothers were sitting with Komusubi, elbowing him teasingly while the shorter boy glowed. Sena looked at the other side of the field.

Munakata looked on the verge of a nervous breakdown. His eyes had gone wide and his smile stretched to the point where you could see gums. The other players didn't look much better, even from this far away. What on earth could have turned the previously polished players into such a bundle of nerves? Sena looked at the scoreboard.

The score was Amino 8, Deimon 40.

He whooped, punching his fist into the air and ran over to congratulate his teammates. Of course, the minute he got within arm's reach, all three brothers and Komusubi started kicking him for being late. As punishment for being late, Hiruma kept him out of the whole game. Sena watched as the line demolished every musclebound player the other team threw at them. Monta, Edward, Hiruma, and the other two backs pulled so many different combinations that Munakata's head started to spin.

When they stopped for the end of the third quarter, Kumabukuro brought out his previous assessment of the two teams. "While it's true that Amino's state of the art sports medicine, created great bodies for the players, they didn't actually learn how to play the game." He smiled. "Deimon obviously worked through weeks and weeks of repetitive drills to get where they are. I don't want to even think about what kind of training they had to do to develop that kind of stamina. The Cyborgs are exhausted, even though they have at least twice as many players as the Devil Bats and can switch players for defense and offense."

Shin watched from the stands as Edward sacked the Amino quarterback with another Devil Bat Claw tackle, but a slightly different one than the one he'd displayed during the spring tournament. The boy hadn't thrown him to the ground using his weight as he had done before, with Nasa and Taiyo. It was by pure arm strength alone, with his normal arm. With a smaller opponent, perhaps someone more Hiruma's or Sena's size, he would have been able to pick them up and drag them further down the field so that they lost more yards. He would be a dangerous opponent.

As the game wound down, the score was so one-sided it was almost embarrassing for the other team. Deimon was crushing Amino's eight points under a lead of 72 points, an overwhelming nine touchdowns. The whistle sounded as the Deimon side of the field exploded in a flash of party favors, bright lights, and gunshots. "The Deimon Devil Bats have crushed the powerhouse Amino cyborgs," the loudspeakers blasted to everyone in the stands and on the field. "They made it through the first round!"

**WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO! Man, I had such a great time at Sakura Con! I got to meet Vic, and he said my costume (Edward) was amazing! I got to go to my first Cosplay chess game ever, and it was hilarious! I took more pictures than is probably healthy and did so much else besides! There is no way I'm not going next year, even if I have to use vacation days to do so. I started my new job this week, and almost fell asleep several times because I have to get up at 4:30 to get to training on time and it is very boring. **

**I will try to update this every week, on Sunday. Please review and remind me to work on this.**


	58. Interlude

"Hey, Kurita, nice work." The big lineman looked over at the entrance to the field. "You've gotten better since the spring, but you're still pretty rough." Then the speaker came into view. It was a taller boy with a crew cut, built like a swimmer in a jacket. "If all you have is strength, you'll end up like that idiot Otawara."

"Onihei!" Kurita shouted as he hurriedly tugged off his helmet. Linemen from other teams also noticed and began to form a crowd around the boy.

An enraged Ikari twisted in his chains one final time and threw himself over the railing of the stands and right on top of where the legendary lineman stood. "Who's calling Otawara an idiot!?"

Takami tried to grab the back of the chains before the falling player crushed those below. "No, wait Ikari! You can't deny it! That's why you've got to stop-"

But Ikari was already safe, on the ground with Onihei holding him in a gentler version of a tackle. He got up from his crouched position and brushed off his jacket. "Hey, what was that all about? This guy's got spirit!" He smiled.

The Ojo quarterback scrambled down the stairs to retrieve his irate teammate. "Sorry, Onihei."

The brothers looked on in slight disbelief. "Onihei broke Ikari's fall in the blink of an eye." He was a lineman. How had he managed to do that? Ed couldn't remember seeing anything like it, at least not without alchemy of some sort. This guy was actually impressive.

"Onihei's been a celebrity since we were in junior high," Kurita explained. The lineman was clearly a fanboy. "We played him once as the Mao Devil Bats. He beat us every time with technique alone. He was really good."

"He's been a lineman since elementary school." The devilish quarterback looked over at the swarm of players surrounding the experienced lineman. "He's the top veteran mega-tactician." _No wonder he's that good, _Ed thought. _He's been studying football almost as long as Al and I studied alchemy. Experience alone would make him a great player. _

Then the blond remembered something. "Aren't the Deer in the same tournament block as us?" Sena nodded and looked back at the crowd of fans around the veteran. If they wanted to beat Ojo, and get Musashi back on the team, they'd have to beat the Deer, and Onihei. And if they didn't, that was it for them.

Sena and Monta stopped by a pastry shop on the way back to school for the victory party. The receiver wouldn't stop throwing around his bag of Mamori's favorite cream puffs. "We Creamed Amino!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, throwing up a hand in his signature pose."

Sena sighed on the ground next to him. "yeah, but I didn't get to play at all. You guys didn't need my help."

Monta clapped him on the back. "That just means that we can wait until we really go up against the big guns to put you in. You're our secret weapon! And," he flung the bag behind his shoulder and wagged a finger in front of Sena's face, "since we won by such a huge landslide, Musashi has to come back to the team!"

"Shhh!" Sena cautioned. "We can't talk about it where Hiruma might hear. He'd make us give it up!" Monta shut up really quickly. They both jumped as the door to the clubhouse slammed shut. Ed lifted his foot off the door and started to stomp off. "What's wrong Edward-san?"

Ed threw a hand back and pointed at the door. "Him!" he shouted as he walked back towards the entrance to the school. "I'm not spending another minute around that idiot!" The boys cringed and opened the door.

Hiruma was stewing in a corner as the others tried to comfort the tall idiot. When Taki started moaning about missing his debut game, Hiruma had had enough. "Chinfuzz! You couldn't have played in the Amino game anyway! You aren't even a Deimon student yet." He watched as Taki snapped back like a rubber band and scowled. How dare Edward leave him to the company of this moron. If he was going to try to teach this kid, he needed someone intelligent around, if only to balance out his stupidity. He set down his rifle and got the others' attention "Now that we've beaten Amino, we won't be treated like a sideshow."

"The other teams will be scrutinizing the game video," Kurita added around a mouth full of apple. "It's a good thing we were able to keep Sena's running a secret, if only for just a little longer."

"We've saved our ace, but they know who our passing target is now." Hiruma pointed at Monta. "If they crush you with a tag-team defense, it's over." He picked up the tiny clay figurine of Taki. "So chinfuzz, by putting you in, we double our offensive passing power. If you don't pass the entrance exam, I'll shoot you dead."

When Taki responded with a smile, Sena didn't know whether he was brave or just stupid. No, he knew he was just stupid.

Jumonji rolled his eyes and went over to where Togano was reading his most recent series. He'd barely been able to yank his friend away from the books, which wasn't too abnormal, except this one didn't look like a punk fighter series. "What're you reading?" He asked.

Togano looked up at his friend and fellow lineman. "I don't really know. I mean, look at this." He flipped through the book for a few moments and stopped on one of the chapter title pages, the one with a big picture. Jumonji grabbed the book out of Togano's hands and held it close to his face. "No way."

"Yeah," Togano added as he tugged the book back down to where he could see it too. "I saw the resemblance too, and it's not just the arm and leg. They say a lot of the same things. Remember that first day when Hiruma called Edward short and he kind of went crazy?" Jumonji nodded. Hard to forget that sort of thing. "This guy does the same thing. But it doesn't stop there." He flipped to the page that showed all the main characters with their names. "They have the same name too."

"Weird," Kuroki added from the other side of Togano. "We should ask him about it sometime. Maybe the artist took inspiration from him or something."

**Please Review!**


	59. Guts' History

But they didn't get the chance to interrogate Edward, because right after they finished the testing fiasco for Taki, Hiruma threw them right back into game preparation, without a moment to breathe, let alone cross examine their sort-of friend. He slapped a stack of bookmarked folders, binders, and files down on the desk. "Alright, round two! Time for the Yuhi Guts game meeting!"

Togano took one of the binders from the top of the pile. "There's so much information."

"So how good is Yuhi?" Sena asked from over the top of the pile.

Monta looked at the issue of Football Monthly where they had the team descriptions and ratings. "_Football Monthly _gave them a "D"."

Hiruma picked up a few pages from the file next to him on the table. "Now that we have Taki, Deimon's chances of winning are about 99 percent."

"Wow!" The running back and receiver traded looks. If they beat this team, Musashi might finally come back. With Taki, they'd finally have a full roster! Then they'd be able to stand up to teams like Ojo and Seibu without having to worry about point conversions, and the original three players would get to go to the Christmas Bowl together!

"There's a one percent chance we could lose," Hiruma growled at his celebrating team. They all suddenly broke out in a nervous sweat.

"Still, I don't think the actual team will be the ones playing." Edward looked up from his current file. "Out of all the teams in Yuhi, the football team is the only one not making the cut at the school. With a record like that, the program will probably get hacked if they don't win this year." He flipped to the next page. "And with a coach like this," he held up the picture of the Yuhi coach, "he'll be more eager to please the higher-ups than actually play a decent game. He'll probably get a bunch of sports stars from other teams to play for his team."

Hiruma tried to pull the photo away from him. "You don't know that."

Edward wouldn't let go. "Come on, I've seen this sort of thing before, it's not all that uncommon. I'm telling you, that's what's going to happen." He pulled the sheet away from the grabby quarterback and tucked it back in the file. Sena had the urge to laugh at the fact that Edward won against the Deimon Devil. "We'll just have to beat the substitutes so hard that they're forced to bring out their real players." The team grinned at the prospect. They'd forced Ojo to bring out Shin when they were just starting. This would be way more fun than playing against Amino.

Ed flipped through the game schedule on the bus ride to the field. "Wow."

"What?" Hiruma popped a gum bubble and leaned over to look at the page.

The shorter blond held up the pamphlet. "Ojo, Seibu, and those deer guys play on our field today." He looked back at the black letters. "I wonder if Shin has changed his game at all."

When they got to the field to wait for their game to start, the Devil Bats were deafened by the sheer volume of the crowds already in the stands. Ed looked around in slight amazement. There hadn't been nearly this many people for their last game against Amino, or any of the games before that. Nasa probably came-

The hair on the back of Ed's neck stood up. He turned around and saw the whole Ojo team, with Shin staring at him like he wanted to tackle the blond right into the ground. Ed brought his hand to his forehead and whipped it away in a jaunty salute. Hiruma might like scare tactics, but annoying people was so much more fun, especially with the serious types like Shin.

"The key player is over on the left," Edward heard Hiruma say. He turned and looked where the quarterback was pointing. Their opponent, the Yuhi Guts, were pumping themselves up with a few cheers, giving Hiruma more than enough time to break them down for the pipsqueaks. "That's Yuhi's captain, Atsumi. As for his abilities as a quarterback, well…you could say he's the best of the worse." Ed examined the kid. A stable build, strong arms, probably a strong core and legs too, but he was missing any form of determination. That cinched it. They weren't going to fight the real Guts, just a bunch of substitutes.

"How long have these guys been playing," Ed asked.

"Three years. This is their last game." He started walking towards the huddle of players. Ed laughed as he watched the ensuing conversation and how it riled up the whole Yuhi team. Hiruma never missed a chance to rankle his opponent. Hiruma waited until they were almost hitting him to cackle out, "And we haven't even shown off our greatest weapons. We're hiding a player who was scouted for the pros, and our ace has trained mercilessly for this. There's no way you're going to the Christmas Bowl."

"Bluff s and mindgames are the Devil Bats' way. Good." Hiruma looked down at one of the lesser players he hadn't noticed before. "You'll be giving everything you've got. That said, when our teams play, we won't," Hiruma noticed he was trembling. "be able to show you the Yuhi Guts' way." The boy walked away with his fists clenched. Looks like Edward had been right on the money. They'd have to force the real team to come out.

Ed scowled. "Those wimps. This is their last game, possibly ever, and they let their coach put together a different team to fight their battles for them? I don't care what the school would have said, they should have stood up for themselves." Sena walked back over to their seats with a much happier face. Once they took their seats, the crowd roared to life as two teams stepped out onto the field. Punks vs Knights. Edward and Sena leaned forward. How much had their greatest rival changed wince their last game?

**YES! I got my first fanart for a few of my stories! My sister drew some cover pieces for my Hogwarts Four story and one that has yet to be posted. They're so beautiful! Oh, and please go and check out my other Edward stories.**

**Please Review!**


	60. Rivalry at its Finest

The two teams lined up opposite each other. "Hut!" The ball went back to Takami and the game started.

Otawara and the other linemen jumped into action and braced themselves against their opponents. "That pass protection's solid!" Kurita yelled to Kuroki and Komusubi. _Yeah, _Ed thought, _that's definitely for a pass. To who? _ He looked up the field and saw how Sakuraba was running around the cluster of players in the middle to behind the linemen while the Punks were preoccupied with the line and Takami. Was it a ruse, or could the kid actually catch now?_ Well he did cut his hair and quit that modeling gig, so maybe he's actually taking this seriously now. _

Takami snapped the ball over the line at an almost impossible height. Was he going for a long bomb or…no. Ed watched as the blond ex-model crouched. _This is my chance, _Sakuraba thought. He launched himself in front of the Punk linebacker and into the air. The ball slammed into his outstretched hands with a definite smack. The crowd erupted.

Monta crossed his arms as he watched Ojo gain more yards with what they were calling the Everest pass. "I doubt I could have caught that, not from that height."

Ed leaned over the bars to get a better look. Then he smirked. "That move only works because they're both tall enough. If the Punks had taller linemen or defensive players, this wouldn't work for long." He slapped Monta on the back. "Besides, doing the same thing over and over is dangerous. It gives your opponent enough time to figure out how to stop it. That's why we have so many different things we can use."

Ojo passed their way into a touchdown and the defensive players walked onto the field. Now Edward and Sena were the ones eagerly watching. They watched as the Punk's number 25 barely squeezed through a gap in the wall of linemen with the ball, thinking he'd made it. But Shin was already racing in his direction.

Shin reached out with both hands and flexed the muscles in his hands. It was time for his two rivals in the stands to learn exactly what they were dealing with so he could see how they responded, and how he could learn from that response. He leapt.

The player staggered from the pain, ball slipping through his hands as a strength that had brought boars and bears to a halt tackled him around the waist. The loudspeaker boomed out over the field, "Whoa! What an intense tackle! Sankaku fumbled the ball! It's Ojo's turn to attack now!"

Monta and leapt up from their seats, whooping. "Yeah! That was awesome!"

"Shin's power and speed have improved since last spring," Sena added as he leaned over the railing again. "But that's not all. Even his tackle seems different. There's something…I don't know what, but…"

"Having a rival will do that to you," Ed said as he leaned forward along with the smaller running back. "It's like that with almost anything. If you meet someone you want to beat, or someone who's level you want to reach, you practice harder. I used to be that way with my brother all the time." Al and he had always had rivalry, from friendly sparring matches, to fighting over Winry when they were little. Ed sat back on the bench. "There's no way the Punks are winning this game, not with a lineup like that."

Shin stayed in until the end of the game, using his tackle left and right. He still needed to refine the technique, and only real game experience could do that. How many angles could he use? What velocity did his leap need to be when the player ahead of him was running at a certain speed? How did he avoid the more resistant areas on the bigger players? He had to be ready when they faced Deimon.

The Punks were utterly demolished, with no touchdowns while Ojo racked up 63 points by the end of the third quarter, with the count still climbing. The Punks' passes never got off the ground because their line couldn't stand Otawara, and running was useless because, even if they squeezed through the line, Shin was waiting for them.

Sakuraba's gravity-defying catches continued to gain yards as no one on the other side could get within two feet of the height of the Everest Pass as it flew between two players who'd barely made five catches in their spring game against the Devil Bats. Finally, the score was 76 to zero, and Ojo was lining up for another offensive. Shin looked over at the stands and locked eyes with the two Deimon players, one leaning over the railing, the other looking straight at him and grinning. He glared.

That look sent shivers down Sena's spine, but Edward only laughed. "I can't wait to go up against that guy." He flexed his right arm. "We'll see who has the better tackle." The game went to Ojo with a score of 82 vs 0.

**I know it's short. But I haven't seen my boyfriend in more than a month, Legend of Korra has been driving me crazy, and I'm at a critical time in the training for my new job. My creativity has declined substantially, not to mention I almost lost this whole story because of a virus on my PC. Life has not been kind to me.**

**Please review and give me my creative life back.**


	61. Fighting the Real Guts

The White Knights and Punks cleared off the field and the maintenance crew ran out to insure the field was in peak condition for the next game. Ed and the rest of the Devil Bats went to suit up. Kurita looked around the locker room. "Where's Taki?"

Suzuna volunteered to go look for him. She glanced around the bleachers and spotted him within seconds. It was kind of hard to miss him, when he was standing in a ridiculous dance pose in a suit. She physically reminded him of why it was a bad idea to embarrass her in public and had two of the other cheerleaders carry him back to the locker room on a stretcher. "Sorry for all the fuss," one of the older cheerleaders said as she dumped the still quivering player at Hiruma's feet.

When he finally stopped shaking and got into his uniform, the team went out onto the field. Monta looked over at the other side of the field. "Hey, Hiruma, isn't Atsumi on the bench?" The blond quarterback jerked his head up. The Guts' side of the field was crawling with players. If the players he was seeing were anything to go by, the Yuhi coach had cannibalized all the other sports teams. This would be a challenge.

But when the soccer ace unleashed a rocket kick, Hiruma grinned. This would be a challenge alright, especially with the ace of pretty much every other Yuhi sports team on the field. Still, they had a few tricks up their sleeve the other team knew nothing about.

"Man," Sena wheezed out when they returned to their side of the field to plan for the next play. "I didn't think a substitute team would be this good. Some of their running backs are hard to catch. I don't know if I can outrun them."

"Yeah," Monta nodded. "I saw the ace of their baseball, judo, and basketball teams out there. It's like we're fighting the best of every other sport."

"Which means they know almost nothing about the actual sport." Ed plunked himself down on the bench. "Didn't you notice? Their plays were easy to read. The only reason they got yards is because we didn't expect them to be that good since they're just a team of fill-ins."

Hiruma grinned and took a long drink from one of the water bottles. "Now we know how good they are, so we can use some of those trick plays."

The shorter blond grinned. "Once that coach realizes we're killing his team, he'll send out the real Yuhi Guts."

The team broke out of their huddle and raced onto the field. Takami watched from the stands as the Devils Bats formed up like normal, but with the blond idiot on one side of the field in a receiver's position. What was Hiruma up to? The lines blocked, with Deimon leaning back slightly. He heard as Atsumi read the play and shouted to the fill-in team to guard against a pass. They immediately ganged up on Monta. _Hmm, at least the coach taught them something about how Deimon plays. But why do I get the feeling that…_ Then he saw Hiruma throw and followed the direction of the ball. _Of course!_

"Looks like Deimon has got themselves a new receiver," The loudspeaker blasted out over the crowd. "What a stunning catch from Number 37, Natsuhiko Taki! And right in the middle of that crowd of Guts players!"

Halfway through the game, the Yuhi coach stared at the scoreboard. This could not be happening. Deimon was not winning, not with a twenty point lead. If he didn't get some points on that board, the school would fire him for sure. Deimon's new receiver was messing up the dynamics of the fill-in team, and their makeshift teamwork was falling to bits. Eyeshield was getting through, that monkey kid kept getting serious yardage for the Devil Bats, and all because the fill-ins didn't know who to block when they'd been told there were only two targets and suddenly there were three!

He watched as Eyeshield pushed through the line because of that idiot Deimon player. "Deimon's offence has really improved," he noted with a sense of dread. At this rate, he'd be cleaning out his desk before the end of the school year.

"Of course," Atsumi added from his seat on the bench. "Now they have a guy who can block _and _catch." What he wouldn't have given to have a versatile player like that on his team for once.

At the end of the third quarter, Deimon's win over Amino was no longer called a fluke victory. The Devil Bats were going up against a third year veteran team, and winning with a score of 42 to 0. "Looks like this match will be going to the Devil Bats," the loudspeaker blared. "With a score like that, it'll take something major to turn the tide for the guts." There was a pause and then, "Wait! It looks like Yuhi is switching out their whole team! Yes! Atsumi and his team of veteran players are walking onto the field. It's now a battle of experience. Will it be the three years of playing know-how for the Guts, or the new explosive powerhouse of the Devil Bats that wins this match?"

Hiruma grinned when he saw the real Guts team and huddled down with his players. "Edward, you go in for a blitz. The rest of the line, guard against a run. Everyone else, watch out for a pass, we've got to guard well." The team raced out onto the field, Sena and Monta whooping in their triumph or succeeding to bring out the other team. Ed looked at Atsumi and grinned. He could finally get some real action in this game against him.

The Guts' one percent chance of winning grew as they scored a touchdown, despite Deimon's best efforts to keep them from advancing. This team had clearly trained together. They pulled off maneuvers like fake handoffs to cover passes and their line actually pushed Deimon back far enough to let a runner through. "Touchdown!" Half the crowd leapt to their feet as the Guts finally landed some points on the board. Now it was the Devil Bats' offensive.

Sena looked through the gaps in the lines at Atsumi. He hadn't played in the last game, so his training from the summer was still untested. His legs quivered for a showdown. Hiruma handed him the ball and he charged forward, right though the gap Kurita opened up for him, and straight towards the Yuhi quarterback.

Atsumi braced himself to tackle and reached for Sena. He ran straight forward and at the last minute, shortened his stride and changed direction for just enough steps to get past the other player. A call of touchdown rang out over the field, closely followed by the buzzer signaling the end of the game. The Devil Bats had won 56 to 6 and were headed for the third round of the tournament.

**I almost thought I wouldn't have a chapter for you this week. My boyfriend came home and I finally finished training this week. By the way, that new Annie movie? Pretty good. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last three chapters, and I look forward to hearing more from you guys.**


	62. Between the Yard Lines

Ed fumed on the bus all the way back to the school. How dare those Poseidon guys! Just because they were freakishly tall, they thought they could…Argh! It made him furious to think about it! He shoved another piece of grilled meat in his mouth and reached for more sauce.

One of the punks sat Sena next to him and shouted, "Where were you?! Don't slack off, eat!" Ed jolted when someone slammed a huge plate of meat down in front of him, shouting something about a contest. He grabbed some of the meat off the plate and laid it on the grill. He might not be able to do anything about those freakishly tall players, but this challenge he could win, even if it was stupid because the other team had at least twice as many players to eat the stuff as they did.

About an hour later Sena left to get some fresh air to help the Deimon group complete the challenge and Ed followed him. He really shouldn't have eaten that last plate. He chuckled when Sena freaked out when he saw Shin doing pull-ups from the ring in the bull's nose. The guy was an even bigger training nut than Edward. The shrimp asked him why he wasn't inside with the others.

"It's not that I don't want to eat, I've already processed the required amount of nutrients," he said as he slid one of his gloves off. "Managing your diet is important if you want to make a real body."

Sena looked down at his feet. "When you play defense, which is harder to block, a tall sturdy runner, or a kid like me?"

"When all other conditions are the same," Shin asked, ignoring Sena's floundering. "Speed and agility as well?"

The runningback looked up sheepishly. "Yes."

"A tall, sturdy runner. He would be hard to block with a careless tackle."

"Like," Sena muttered, "I though."

"A strong body isn't all that's required to resist a tackle." Sena looked up and saw Shin looking back at him. "The deciding point is spiritual strength. If you feel inferior before you even step on the field, Deimon's chances of winning are nil."

"None of us think we're inferior," Ed said, stepping out of the shadowed front of the building, "but we do need to know what to work on. Improving is the only way we'll get to the Christmas Bowl. That's why Sena asked."

The pipsqueak got up off the railings and looked Shin right in the eye. "Because I'm going to advance to the finals, and beat you there, Shin."

The taller boy turned away. "Your height is not something that grows because you want it to."

Sena quickly covered his ears. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT HE DOESN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT GROWING BECAUSE EVEN IF HE DID HE'S ALREADY SO SMALL THAT IT WOULDN'T MAKE A DIFFERENCE!?"

Shin hunched his shoulders up around his ears. That had hurt. "If you feel insecure about your height,"- Sena slapped a hand over Ed's mouth to keep him from shouting again-"increase your intake of protein after training or matches. Especially because your body is underdeveloped, meat would be alright for you."

Sena released a fuming Edward and stared as the older boy retreated into the restaurant. They looked at each other and both raced inside to scarf down more beef. No way were they going to stay that height.

Once they'd all recovered enough from their beef binge, the Devil Bats headed back to their high school to put away their uniforms. As they walked back, Shozo hurried forward until he was walking next to Ed. The most current volume of _Fullmetal Alchemist _weighed heavy in his pocket. How was he supposed to bring it up without just getting clobbered by his teammate? _Hey Edward-san, you aren't by any chance from the fake world of Amestris with Alchemy and a brother who only might be alive, are you? Yeah, _he thought to himself, _like I'm going to say that. _

Maybe he should just bring it out in front of the shorter player and see what his reaction was? No, not a good idea right now. They were walking and he knew what this part of town was like at night if you didn't pay attention. Maybe at the next practice? No, they didn't have time. Hiruma was working them to the bone as it was getting ready for the next game.

Just as they reached the clubhouse, Shozo finally decided that his best bet was to sit next to Edward the next time they rode the bus to one of their games and bring out the book So Edward could see the cover. If that didn't work, he would get one of the others, probably Kazuki to help out. They were almost as curious as he was, even though they didn't read the series as religiously as he did.

The next game day, Ed found himself on the wide back seat of the bus with a Hah brother on each side and the last sitting in front of him. Kazuki looked out of the corner of his eye and traded a look with Koji. _It's almost time to bring out the book. I wonder how he'll react. _Then again, did they really want it to be true? He and Koji had only read one or two of the volumes and a few chapters here and there, but between that and updates from Shozo, the story was several times more awful than anything they'd gone through as punks. Limbs aside, just fighting an enemy who could harden his skin like that would have left marks, even though Shozo told them that Ed won that fight.

Finally Shozo reached into his sports duffle and pulled out the book. It was the eleventh volume, with a picture of Edward, the armored Alphonse, and someone Shozo told them was the brother's dad on the front. Koji nodded to Kazuki. "Hey Shozo," the linebacker asked, "can I see that?" The manga reader grumbled at having to share but passed the book all the same. Kazuki held the book up in front of his face, proudly displaying the cover to the blond seated right next to him.

Then Edward saw the cover.


End file.
